Breakable
by HidingBehindtheCamera
Summary: Katie's life has never been simple. Her dad's constantly butting into her life and her mom's not-so-prudish ways aren't very encouraging. But Jacob Black seems to change that in the blink of an eye. Will she take the plunge? Rated for language. Jacob/OC
1. Chapter 1

I'll try to keep my author's note brief. I'd just like to start off by saying, hey! How ya doin'? Anyway, I'd really like some feedback on this first chapter to see if I'll continue with the story. No flames, please. Like Thumper's mother always says, if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.

Also, I'm just going to do one big disclaimer right now so I won't have to deal with it every chapter

Ehm…

I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! SM DOES!

Now, enjoy the story.

"MY EYES!"

Now, you're probably wondering why I would yell that after coming home from a fairly normal day of school. Here's why: I walked into my living room, normally a very pleasant room to be in, to find my mother in some revealing French maid-ish outfit. She was sitting on some shirtless guy's back while she danced around with a riding crop in her hand.

Immediately my mother, and the man I didn't know, looked up. My hands were slapping against my head to get rid of the disturbing image. "Mom!" I screamed, hysterical and praying for this nightmare to end. "_Seriously?_ In the _middle_ of the living room?"

I peeked out from behind my hand and found both of them in a standing position, staring at the ground, trying to look innocent. "So, honey, how was school?" Mom asked quietly.

My eyes narrowed. "Oh, no. As disturbed as I am, I want to know what the hell you were doing in the middle of the living room!"

The man next to her blushed. "Well...I'm the fairy princess and Jeff is my bad little pony," she stated calmly. I gagged slightly. She turned to Jeff. "Just go home. We'll continue later." He nodded and rushed over to grab his shirt before running out the door.

Mom turned to me, a sheepish grin on her face. "So...why are you home so early?" she asked. I rolled my eyes.

"The warden wasn't looking and I managed to scale the barbed wire fence." I said sarcastically. She glared playfully, before heading into her room to put away her..."princess" outfit. Meanwhile, I sat at the island in the middle of the kitchen, tossing my backpack into the chair next to me. "I told you that we were getting let out early because they were going to let us have a long weekend. Telling you that doesn't mean, 'Go have sex with some random guy in the middle of the living room even though your daughter might be home any minute!'" I exclaimed. "What if I saw something!" I added, horrified at the possibility. Mom's bark-like laugh was muffled by the fact she was in a different room, but it was still distinct.

"Katie, hon, you would've liked whatever you accidentally saw." She winked as she entered the kitchen, wearing a silk Chinese patterned robe. "He's thirty-eight, but could still get hired to work at Abercrombie and Fitch."

I made a noise that sounded in between a gag and a cough. "Are you trying to make me want to join a convent? Because Grandma offered to help me escape the last time she was giving me twenty bucks for being my awesome self."

She snorted and began to make herself a sandwich. "Being royalty really takes it out of ya!" she told me. I coughed to hide my snicker.

"Yeah, that's what it is," I murmured sarcastically. I was smacked on the back of the head promptly afterwards. "Ow! God, Ma! Are you trying to kill me by giving me brain damage?" I whined like a three year-old.

Mom snorted. "Oh yeah, you caught me, kid. I'm one of those self-obsessed mothers who uses their child's pain to get attention."

"Münchausen syndrome by proxy."

"Yeah that." She paused and turned to give me a perplexed look. "Where the hell did you learn that? I'm supposed to be the smarterer one. I'm the adult here." Her words were connected and slightly slurred.

I sighed, rubbing my head tiredly. "First of all, Mom, smarterer isn't a word. Second," I paused to give her a wary glance, "you had wine before that whole fiasco in the living room, didn't you?"

Proudly, she nodded and pulled a bottle of white wine out of the fridge. Quickly, I bypassed her and shoved the bottle back into the fridge before blocking the door so she couldn't get in. I knew the consequences of not stopping her right now in her slightly-tipsy state.

At the thought of the last incident, I shuddered. Let's just say it involved two male strippers, a candy striper costume, and a spray-bottle of whipped cream. All taking place in the middle of the dining room. I was never the same after walking in on that. By the way, I was eleven.

Sex wasn't a foreign subject in this house. Considering my mother isn't the most...subtle person when it comes to her...encounters. I got the sex talk when I was nine. And it consisted of Mom telling me the basic "goal" (her words, not mine) of sex, what you're trying to do, and then listing all the bad things that can happen to me if I have sex.

Great approach, right?

Back to the present, my phone vibrated on the kitchen island. I picked it up and saw a text from my best friend, Maria, flash on the screen.

_Bonfire in La Push 2nite! R u goin?_

Quickly, I replied.

_Idk. Mom's been getting a little too close to a wine bottle today so..._

Apparently, my mother had been reading over my shoulder because I heard her snort before she stalked out of the kitchen, sandwich in one hand, bottle of Pepsi in the other (she flaunted the fact her drink wasn't alcoholic). I just rolled my eyes and waited for a reply.

_Plz? D can come over & take care of her._

Who she was referring to when she said "D" was my older brother Dean. He's 26 and has his own house here in the tiny town of Forks. Even though he has his own house, he visits a lot. But honestly, I didn't want to go to the bonfire. Big crowds and parties were Maria's scene, not mine. She was good at flirting with guys, I mostly snapped at them or made sarcastic remarks to the few pick up lines ever aimed at me.

_Why should I?_

Her reply came back soon after I texted her that.

_Bcuz u luuuuuv me! And you want to make me smile! :( PLZ?_

I sighed and gave in.

_I'll be there._

God, I was going to regret this.

"OK, no sex, because I know you don't own any condoms and you aren't on the pill. Don't drink too much, one beer is the limit. If you come home high or with breath that smells like a cigarette, I'll kick your ass so hard you'll land in next Tuesday. Got it?" Mom asked, done laying down the rules and making threats of bodily harm. I nodded. She flashed me a 1950's-we're-a-creepily-happy-family smile before shooing me out the door. I had to leave early tonight to pick up Maria. My beautiful chariot awaited. It was a 1971 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, with original seats and paint. The radio was busted when I bought it, so Dean got me a new one and was procrastinating about putting it in.

The olive green paint had been a turn off for most, along with the radio, but I loved my baby. The Green Bomb. (Don't look at me! Maria's nickname for it.) Anyway, I cruised down the silent streets of Forks, occasionally seeing another car. It was dark out, almost eight o'clock, and no one was outside. Only badasses such as myself dared drive through Forks this late. Yeah, I'm such a rebel.

Not.

When a familiar mustard yellow house came into view, I pulled up to the curb Maria's house was sitting on and waited for her. My best friend's parents were very strict and do not tolerate parties, so Maria was taking one of her signature escape routes. Out the window, down the tree.

Not long after I'd stopped, I saw a blurry, dark figure shimmy out the window and slide down the roof slightly. Then, they jumped off the roof and latched their arms on one of the branches that dipped downward. They swung their legs back and forth a few times before they let go and landed in the left center of the yard and scurried towards my car.

Maria slid in quickly and glanced at me, smiling. Her pale cheeks were flushed from the cool night air and the excitement she'd told me she always felt when sneaking out. I sighed.

"You owe me. Bad." I told her. Her smile widened and she nodded.

"I know, I know. That's like 'I owe you' number ninety-two in this friendship. Thank god they don't have a due date," she muttered the last part under her breath as she took off her thin cardigan. I was surprised to see what she was wearing beneath.

She had on a tight, jean mini skirt that was over some black tights. Her top was a magenta colored tank top that had a plunging neckline. On her feet were some sparkly sandals. I examined the rest of her with an eyebrow raised so high it was probably touching my hairline. Her normally straight blond hair was in wild, messy curls that glittered slightly. Her eyes had eyeliner, a thick layer of mascara, and dark eye shadow covering them. The rest of the make up was much simpler, thank God.

"Where the hell are you going? Because, last time I checked, bonfires didn't require an outfit suitable to go clubbing with Paris Hilton in." I muttered, starting the Carlo.

She giggled. "Oh, Katie. Silly, silly, Katie." Maria said, patting my head like I was some naïve little girl. "I would never go clubbing with Paris. She only strips in them and I ain't that desperate to get a man."

I didn't bother replying, just began to drive towards La Push.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello again! Thank you for the lovely reviews, they're what keep me going so keep 'em coming. So, I'll try to keep my little note brief so you can find out how the party goes for Katie. The inspiration for Katie's mom was my friend's mom, ****a single woman who enjoys her share of men. And you'll find out soon enough that Katie's mom is very…how would you put it? High maintenance, I guess. But loveable. Anyway, enjoy!**

**P.S. I probably should mention that this story is rated M because Katie and other characters cuss like sailors and because of suggestive themes. You'll understand after reading the last bit of this chapter.**

**- HBTC**

The beach was packed with people from Forks and La Push. Most had a plastic cup in their hand or a cigarette. I went for the cup filled with beer. Immediately, Maria surrounded herself with a group of very cute boys from Forks that she knew and she was content. Happy in boyland.

I sighed and took a sip of the beer. It was cheap beer, that was for sure. The kind gas stations had for a "three for one" deal. Then again, I'd tasted beer from bars in Europe. I was biased. Plus, we were all underage, how the hell would we get anything better without getting caught?

The music thumped loudly, pounding in my ears. It was the kind of music written just for clubs and parties. The lyrics consisted of some girl singing about hooking up with a stranger. God, this generation's music did suck. Or, at least, pop music did. Girls and guys were grinding against each other while they danced drunkenly.

I wasn't sure what to do with myself, honestly. Did I go talk to someone I knew who wasn't drunk or trying to hook up with someone else? Or did I just hang in the back and try to get through this, unnoticed? I thought that maybe the first approach would be good, but I searched the crowd and realized that everyone I knew _was_ drunk or trying to hook up. Well, that sucked.

The other approach wasn't hard to pull off. Just act as laid back and uncaring as possible. As I calmed down and did just that, I began to enjoy myself. Until I saw someone walking towards me and recognized them as someone I did _not_ want to see. I analyzed my options.

Leave? I was Maria's ride home.

Avoid them all night? Not possible. The party wasn't big enough, plus, we were at a beach.

I didn't have a chance to come up with any other options as they called out my name over the loud thump of the music. My ex-boyfriend, Mark, strolled over, arrogant as ever. His shaggy blond hair and blue eyes made most girls swoon, but it made me want to gag because I'd had to spend time with that ignoramus for a month.

"Hey, babe. How's it going?" he asked, giving me this weird look. His "smolder" or whatever. It made him look constipated.

I sighed exaggeratedly. "I was having a great time. Then a jackass decided to come over here and make me wish I really had slaughtered him the last time we saw each other." My voice was laced with a sickly sweet tone, eyes conveying how much I wanted to stab him in the face right now. He chuckled and slid a hand down my arm, causing me to lean even farther away.

"Aw, come on, babe. I told you, I didn't mean anything of it," he purred, his voice garbled and screwed up, like his face. I glared and jerked away from his hand.

I laughed humorlessly. "Oh yeah. Obviously attempting to rape me and only getting away with molesting me is _nothing!_" My eyes sent daggers towards him, stabbing him with their sharp, steel blades. He sighed tiredly.

"Babe, I know you want me back. You always do end up forgiving me pretty easily." He waggled his eyebrows. "I can help you forgive me, if that's what you need." He reached out for me again, but this time I smacked his hand away.

He glared, rubbing his hand. "What's with the attitude?"

I scowled at him, hoping his hair would just burst into flames at that very moment. "Take my advice, Mark. Get away from me before I figure out a way to stab you to death with my beer cup."

This time it was Mark who got frustrated. He reached out and latched his two large hands around my waist, jerking me towards him. His fingers dug into my sides sharply, making me glare harder to keep from acknowledging the slight pain I felt. "I don't like the way you're talking to me, Katie. I think you should learn to watch your tongue." He leaned his face down, close to mine while I struggled in his grip.

I hissed, "Let go of me."

He chuckled. "And if I don't?" he challenged haughtily. Before I could inform him that I would render it impossible for him to father children, a voice from behind me interrupted.

"You'll have to deal with me." The deep voice told him, low and menacing. We both turned to see a Quileute boy-more like man-standing behind Mark. He was nearly seven feet tall, with black cropped hair that spiked up. He had strong, angular facial features, very handsome. His eyes were captivating, bottomless pits of darkness. His lips were full and currently pulled into a tight line, like he was fighting to control his temper. What stuck out the most were his huge muscles. He had biceps bigger than my head! Not to mention a nice set of abs, no doubt. Even with his shirt on, you could figure _that_ out.

I snapped out of my little trance and, during Mark's moment of shock, broke out of the creep's grasp. "Fuck off, Mark, or I swear to God I will make sure I render it impossible for you to father children." His head snapped towards me.

Mark's eyes narrowed. "This isn't over, Katrina." Then he stalked off to go get wasted with his friends. I turned to see the formally frightening Quileute boy fighting an adorable-yes _adorable_-smile. I gaped at his hotness a little before focusing on his face again.

I sighed. "Is this the part where I say thanks for helping me get rid of that rapist?" I asked awkwardly. He chuckled and nodded.

"I guess so." His voice was deep and gravely. My heart fluttered a little at the sound of his voice while my stomach did flips. Stupid butterflies.

"Well, then, thanks." I stuck out my hand. "I'm Katrina Stiles. But, since you got rid of that creep, you get the wonderful privilege of calling me Katie." I told him.

He grinned and shook my hand. His hands were soft and so fucking warm. "Jacob Black."

I bit my lip. "You're going to think this is really strange of me to say, but Jesus Christ your hands are warm!" I said. "Please tell me that you have like a portable sauna with you or something. I'm freezing my ass off."

He laughed. "Sorry. Just naturally warm." He glanced at me, with my arms wrapped around myself tightly, and asked, "Why didn't you bring a jacket? It's mid October in Forks, Washington. Why would you not wear a coat?" He looked at me as if I'd gone insane.

I shrugged. "I brought one. I'm not an idiot, even if I look like it. But my friend decided to wear a tank top and mini skirt, like the imbecile she is, and I lent her my jacket so I wouldn't return her home as a frozen fish stick." I turned and glared pathetically at the back of Maria's head as she wrapped her arms around the two guys closest to her. Obviously they were keeping _her_ warm. "Now I'm wishing I'd left her to be frozen to death."

He chuckled. "Interesting," he murmured. I blushed, realizing how mentally unstable I was acting, and stared at my feet. God, I was such an idiot. Here an incredibly hot guy was, choosing to talk to _me_, and I was wasting time whining about the fact that I was cold.

I sighed and looked at him. "You know, you don't have to keep talking to me. I would totally understand if you left to get high or hit on some blond bimbo." I chuckled. "Hell, I would hit on a blond bimbo...if I hadn't just escaped one."

Jacob's face took on a dark expression before he glanced at me and shook himself slightly. He cleared his throat. "So, uh, what was his problem?" he asked, trying to keep his voice calm and collected.

Instinctively, my face began to harden as I remembered my past relationship with Mark. He was, and still is, the most vile, unworthy, disgusting, pig to roam the earth.

Darkly, I muttered, "It's a long story." I turned to see Jacob watching me with what looked like concern.

"I've got time." He told me. I shrugged.

"Where to start? Um..." I thought over it quickly. "I guess I'll give you the synopsis of this drama fest. When I was sixteen, about to turn seventeen, Mark asked me out. Apparently he'd gone through all the extremely good-looking girls in Forks and decided to give my decent looking self a chance because I was tolerable to be around. Being the idiot I am, I fell for his non-existant charms and looks. We dated for like a month. Then he showed his true colors.

"We were at a party together, both perfectly sober. Mark leaves to say hi to some friends for a second. He comes back five minutes later and forces me into this sloppy kiss where he publicly gropes me. Apparently his friends didn't believe that he was getting enough from me-we hadn't slept together yet-and teased him about it. Being the competitive ass he is, Mark made a show, groping me and shoving his tongue down my throat while I stood there, stunned.

"Quickly, I realized what the fuck he was doing and shoved him off. I slapped him, hard, and then stalked off to the other side of the house." Jacob's face held an angry, pained expression, but I continued. "I was sitting in the backyard of the house, silently fuming to myself, when I felt hands jerk me up from the ground and spin me around to face the person who'd grabbed me. It was Mark. He started forcefully kissing me, groping me again, and trying to take it further. I told him to piss off and to let go.

"Of course, he didn't listen and continued what he was trying to do. I shoved him off of me as I felt his hands try to start taking my clothes off. Then, when he tried again, I kneed him in...a very sensitive area." I glanced at Jacob and chose to leave out I also punched him in the nose when Mark had tried to get up again, and possibly broke it. "I told him we were over and that if he ever came near me again I'd take a swiss army knife to his-um...you get the picture."

Jacob looked furious. "He was trying to force you to-to-" He couldn't even finish. I sighed.

"Yeah, what an asshole, right? He left me alone until tonight. I guess he thought I was drunk enough already that I'd forget the fact he was a rapist or molester."

Clenching and unclenching his fists a few times, Jacob ground out through gritted teeth, "I'd have killed him if I'd known that." I guess Jacob knew someone with a bad experience with rape. Or it was a touchy subject for him. Honestly, I just felt touched he cared even slightly.

As if it had a mind of it's own, my hand reached out and touched his shoulder. "It's fine. Mark would never get away with anything." I told him soothingly. His stiff stance slackened and he grinned down at me sheepishly.

"Sorry. It's just...the thought of him..." He shook slightly before changing the subject. "So, are you new to Forks? Or have I just been too preoccupied with the hustle and bustle of La Push to notice you as a regular resident?" he teased lightly.

I smiled. "I moved here a few years ago, my freshman year, I think. Before then I traveled with my mom through Europe, being homeschooled by her while she did her thing." He eyes bugged slightly at the mention of Europe, the typical reaction to my casual mention of my time spent there. I felt my face heat up in embarrassment.

Jacob shook his head slightly, controlling his shocked expression. "Wow. Europe. Most people here haven't been outside of Washington. Maybe not even outside of Forks or La Push."

I nodded. "Yeah, I figured since every time I mention Europe their eyes bug out and their jaws drop."

Cheeks tinted a darker color than before, Jacob cleared his throat and asked, "So, why did you move so much before?"

Instinctively, my heart clenched. The dark history of my family. The painful history. The main reason I was so pessimistic and cynical about...well, everything. I could feel the anger and hurt I'd always felt flare up within me and sear my weak heart. Sort of a way of reminding me that I'd been hurt before, I could hurt again.

"My mom is an artist. A man had paid her thousands of dollars to paint all of the classic landmarks in Europe for him. And Mom thought, 'What better way to paint than to have the real thing before you?'" I muttered, a hint of bitterness in my tone. "I got a chance to see the world, she got a ton of money for the paintings, and my brother met his now fiancé while we were out there."

Jacob watched me carefully as we began to stroll across the sand heading towards the other end of the beach. Every once in a while we dodged a hectic dancer or stumbling drunk. But mainly we just walked, the silence poignant and painful. As we reached the darker end of the beach, I glanced up to see Jacob was still watching me, his eyes holding an odd expression.

"What?" I asked, slightly defensive.

"You didn't really want to go to Europe, did you? Like, live there for as long as you did." He stated. His tone wasn't judgemental or accusatory, just certain. And it bothered me.

The defense mechanism I had switched on and I glared at him. "It doesn't matter," I hissed furiously. "We went to Europe. End of story."

He kept watching me, careful to hide any emotion. It just pissed me off. Who was he to analyze me? Judge me like he had some sort of right? He'd known me, what, 15 minutes? And suddenly he's got the job as my own personal shrink. The problems in my life were meant for me to deal with, not him. I didn't need some stranger telling me what was wrong with me and my life.

"It's not a bad thing that you care so much about your mother to go along with her plans. No matter how you feel." Jacob spoke up finally. My eyes snapped towards him and I narrowed them suspiciously. What the hell was he doing? Acting all supportive of someone who you've only known for like fifteen minutes isn't normal or socially exceptable.

But I shrugged it off as him being the overly sensitive type of guy and sighed. "I wish it was warmer." I told him randomly.

"So you wouldn't need my portable sauna?" Jacob teased. I slapped his shoulder lightly and chuckled softly.

"Well that, and so I could go cliff diving. Whenever I have time to come the water's too rough or it starts to rain really hard." He gave me this sort of look, reminding me that we lived in one of the rainiest states in the U.S. and I rolled my eyes. "I can take sprinkling, but I will not dive off of a cliff when it's pouring. It'll just make me even colder when I get out."

Jacob smiled and shrugged before a serious look settled on his face. "You shouldn't go cliff diving anyway. It's dangerous."

I snorted. "Who are you, my mother? I can take care of myself, and besides, I wouldn't be stupid enough to go by myself. I need to have a back up plan in case something goes wrong."

He just shrugged and we continued down the beach. It started to rain slightly, causing my clothes to cling to me a little more tightly, now soaking up the rain. I shivered slightly and noticed that people were starting to head out. I scanned the crowd for Maria and found her locking lips with some guy, barely even noticing that it was going to pour soon.

I turned to Jacob. "I'd better get going. But it was nice meeting you." I flashed him a tight smile and then rushed off towards Maria, trying to break up the PDA. I pulled the couple apart and started dragging Maria to the car, not even bothering to give an explanation to the guy or her. We needed to get her home and I wanted out of the rain.

The drive back was conversationless, Maria's buzz from the alcohol keeping her entertained as she giggled at everything. Forks was still as asleep as when we left, only the street lamps lit up. I pulled onto the curb at Maria's house and attempted to sneak her in, seeing as she was too shaky on her feet. I ended up yanking the heels off of her feet and sneaking her in the back door. When she was successfully upstairs and in her room, I snuck back downstairs and out of the house.

When I got home, my mom was sitting in the dark living room, watching a movie. I shut the front door and slipped out of my shoes before plopping next to her on the couch.

Mom offered me some of the popcorn she had and asked, "How was the party?" I shrugged nonchalantly.

"Nothing special." I said, carefully ignoring my meeting with Jacob or the trouble with my ex. "Maria got a little too much to drink so I had to sneak her upstairs again." It wasn't the first time I'd had to get her into her room quietly because she was too drunk to get in by herself and not get caught.

Mom snorted. "How many times is that now?"

"Four."

She let out a small chuckle. "Yep, I definitely influenced you two a little too much. I should've known telling you two stories about the good ole days would come back and bite me in the ass." She shoved a handful of popcorn into her mouth. "Now her mother's going to come and strangle me in my sleep." Bits of popcorn flew out of her mouth as she spoke, which I carefully dodged.

"As if she doesn't already know you're trouble. Have you heard what's been said about you at the gossip meetings?" I asked, fakely horrified. I made a _tsk_ing noise, causing my mother to laugh loudly and obnoxiously. "I think they have video cameras set up in this house to find out who the new flavor of the week is." I added as an after thought. She slapped my arm playfully and rolled her eyes.

"I do not have 'flavors' of the week." Mom tried to argue seriously, but I gave her my signature you've-got-to-be-kidding-me look. "OK, so I've had a few hook ups. What's the big deal? I'm a grown woman. I'm allowed to do whatever the hell I want!"

I shrugged. "Most women your age don't have costumes involving their hook ups. If they have any hook ups, that is."

We both chuckled at how truthful that statement was before lapsing into a comfortable silence. The movie Mom had turned on was _Breakfast at Tiffany's_. A movie she claimed to hate, but I knew she secretly loved. Our fat cat, Jingle, was sprawled out on her lap, purring away as he stared at the TV with his signature blank expression. Jingle had convinced himself that the reason he was put on the earth was to make it more beautiful. He loved mirrors and windows because he could see himself, and he loved to clean his fur frequently.

While my mother couldn't bare to part with Jingle, I was convinced he was a demon cat. With his bright green eyes and jet black fur, seeing him prowling around the house at night was extremely scary. That and there were times where he would suddenly jump up on you, scaring you to death, before he'd just hop right back down and go back to cleaning his fur and being handsome.

Currently, I was glaring at the cat trying to figure out how to get rid of him without breaking my mother's heart.

Get a dog? No, she hated dogs.

A bird? I didn't want to clean up after that.

Giving up, I shot Jingle one last glare before facing the TV again. Just as I was about to get into the movie, like I was actually paying attention, Dean threw the front door open and flipped on the lights. My head snapped towards him and took in his appearance as he trekked into the kitchen.

He had on a plaid button up shirt and jeans with his favorite pair of Chuck Taylors. His normally clean, cut, and cropped hair was in a ruffled mess and his glasses were perched in an odd angle on his face. I raised an eyebrow, signalling my confusion to him. We'd come to have our own sort of sibling language that involved no words. Like, right now, my expression said, "What the fuck happened to you?"

And his wide-eyed glare replied, "Ask. _Her_." The "her" being our mother. I turned to Mom and narrowed my eyes.

"What did you do to him?" I asked. "I leave you alone for what? An hour? Maybe an extra thirty minutes-"

Dean cut in. "You left me with her for two fucking _hours_, Kat! Are you trying to _kill_ me?"

I huffed. "OK, correction. I leave you alone with your fairly stable-minded son for two hours and come back to find him like this?" I waved towards his disheveled appearance. "Although I will admit he's looked much, much, _much_-"

"We get it!"

"-worse."

At first, Mom rubbed Jingle's back, avoiding answering. But when she noticed that Dean was about to answer for her, she stopped beating around the bush and quickly yelled out, "I just had him run to the store to get me a few things! That's all!"

Dean laughed sardonically. "I'll specify what those few things were. Condoms, a vibrator for her personal areas, and whipped cream!"

Now, I know I should've been more sympathetic. My poor brother was sent to get all these things for my mother late at night and was probably embarrassed out of his mind about it. But I couldn't help it. I laughed. Hard. So hard that I had trouble breathing for a while and my sides ached.

Then, as I regained control and wiped the tears from my eyes, I said, "And you actually _bought_ that stuff?"

Dean blushed and looked at the ground. "I didn't actually see the list of stuff until after I was at the store. And then no one was there, so I thought that I might as well get the stuff now, while no one else was around to see, because I knew if I didn't get it she'd just make me go out when there _were_ people. But as I got in line and started to pay, an old woman with a huge leather purse got in line behind me and saw what I was buying and freaked out.

"She started hitting me with her purse, and yelling how I was going to hell. That God would never forgive me for buying such sinful things. And when I tried to explain they were for my mother, while deflecting attacks, she got even more pissed. She then started screaming about how I should never accuse my mother of something as horrible as that. Security had to escort her from the building and I'm pretty sure that somebody got it on tape and put it on YouTube!"

By the time he was done telling me what happened, I was laugh-crying again. It was just so like my brother to get involved in something like that. He was probably the unluckiest person I knew. The only thing he's ever gotten lucky on was landing a hot fiancée.

Mom was laughing with me. "I've gotta say, that trip was worth it for me in more ways then one." That comment stopped me from laughing and caused me to send her a disgusted look. She shrugged. "What? I'm a woman. I have needs and sometimes I need things like whipped cream for these needs."

I shook my head. "Just...don't. Please." I begged, suddenly nauseous.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Try listening to comments like that for two hours straight." He whined/grumbled.

I glared. "Do you live with her? No. So suck it up, and quit whining like the dumbass that takes up 99.999% of your body."

My brother snorted. "And what takes up the 0.001%? Pure manly goodness?"

"More like the hole in your head where your common sense should go," I replied. "And if Rita told you that 'manly goodness' thing, it was to get you to quick whining when male models smack her ass or something."

His eyes went wide. "She hangs out with male models? When? Where? Why?" He asked desperately.

I snorted. "Hangs out with? More like dated, my brother."

He didn't reply. Instead he rushed out the front door, yelling his goodbyes as he ran. Rita would probably give me hell for that tomorrow. Now that I think of it, Maria would give me hell tomorrow for letting her get that drunk at the party.

Tomorrow would just be a hell day, wouldn't it?


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Well, I'd planned on updating earlier than this, but I was having issues with FF earlier this week. Anyway, here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy! Reviews are love!**

**- HBTC**

I woke up around seven the next morning, hearing my mother screeching on the phone. This meant two things. Either (1) it was my grandmother-her mother-or (2) my father. Both people were the only people in the world that I'd ever seen get a rise out of her. Her mother mainly nagged her when they talked. "Why aren't you dating?" or "Allison"-Mom's younger sister-"never stayed single for more than two weeks before she got married, and then her husband didn't leave her for some blondie!"

That was what those conversations consisted of.

My father, however, was the only person that'd ever managed to get a "Fuck off and die!" out of her. Dad left us-Dean, Mom, and I-when I was two for some blond bimbo name Ashley, who was a stripper working at the club Dad went to when Mom wouldn't put out. After Dad married her-before which he gave her a credit card with access to all his bank accounts-Ashley was too busy wasting his money to go back to the club. Plus, she knew that if she cheated, then he would cut her off and she didn't want that, now did she?  
>As soon as I heard my mom yell, "Well, maybe all problems would be solved if you threw yourself off a cliff!" I knew it was Dad. She may get annoyed with Grams a lot, but she would never tell her to throw herself off a cliff.<p>

I got up and walked into the kitchen, in all my bedhead glory, to find Mom's face red with anger. She was huffing and puffing and looked like she'd just run a marathon. Mom glanced at me and rolled her eyes, signalling her frustration, before speaking again.

"Look, Leroy"-Dad-"I don't give a fuck about your personal life or whether you are even alive anymore. I quit caring when you walked out on me for some cheap slut with a shitty boob job." I could hear him yelling back and she chuckled. "Those things are uneven, Roy. But you probably wouldn't know since you haven't gotten some from her since your wedding night! Maybe not even then!"

Silently, I made my way over and took the phone from her. I would handle this. I was usually the mediator in their fights anyway.

"Hey, Dad," I muttered into the phone, forcing myself to stay calm. I wasn't the best mediator because I normally took Mom's side. Plus, I hated Dad for leaving us, so I was biased too. Fun for him, right?

I heard him clear his throat uncomfortably. "Hey, sweetheart, can I talk to your mother, please?" His voice was tight, fighting to stay calm. He had a short fuse, and I'd inherited it. Hence the reason Mark got so many physical threats last night and whenever he dared come near me.

"Sorry, she's busy fucking our neighbor. But I'd be glad to take a message!" I exclaimed cheerfully. I'd found out a couple years ago that my mother's "dates" made him mad. Probably because she got some more often than he did. And that she put out more now, and that was the only reason he left her. He'd ruined his life for some bimbo who was wasting his money and lost the reason he did it since Ashley, too, quit sex for large amounts of time now.

He growled. "Watch your language, young lady." He muttered darkly.

I shrugged even though he couldn't see me. "Just telling you what I see and hear. You're just lucky you can't hear her howling over the phone. You'd be jealous." I sighed. "Damn, wish I could get laid like that." Now I was taunting him, while pretending to remain oblivious. Another trick of mine. Making his life a living hell and getting him worked up was what I lived for.

Then he went off, feeling like his ability to satisfy a woman was being questioned. "Katrina Margaret Stiles! You watch your mouth or I'll fly all the way to Washington to do it for you! Your mother may let you talk shit like that, but I will not allow it. I fucking won't allow my goddamn daughter to say things like that after all the things I've fucking done for you."

There was a long pause before I answered.

"...Dad, you owe like a dollar to the swear jar."

He growled again, huffing and puffing like Mom was before. Now that I looked, Mom was laughing her head off in the living room, a phone stuck to her ear so she could hear both sides of our conversation. Apparently her hand over her mouth wasn't enough to muffle the laughter because Dad heard and hissed, "Don't you laugh at me, goddamn it."

Mom shut up then, but was still smiling.

I sighed. "Yes, sir." I bit my lip to keep from giggling as I added, "But, just so you know, that's another quarter in the swear jar."

He growled in frustration. "I will be having a long conversation with you when I come down to visit. Tell your mother we will finish our discussion later. Goodbye." The line went dead and my eyes widened.

He was coming _here_?

Oh, shit.

I better go pay the swear jar.

* * *

><p>Mom explained why she was yelling while we ate breakfast.<p>

"At first, I'd tried to be civil. I even kept from commenting when he mentioned the Queen of Slutdome herself. And her upcoming 'surgery.'" She snorted. "She's getting a nose job and he's acting like it's brain surgery. As if they could even find one in her head! But, I digress. Anyway, then he starts saying how he hasn't seen 'good ole Forks' in a while and I'm like, 'Because you're too busy taking care of that pet slut you just had to have!'"

I shot her a warning look.

She shrugged it off and took a bite of her scrambled eggs. "Don't give me that look. I'd been putting up with a whole conversation and that was the first remark I made. Be proud. So, then we start arguing about Fake-Boobs McGee and then he's like, 'I wanna see Dean-Bean and Kit-Kat!' So, I say, 'Hell no. Not unless you leave the whore at a kennel.' Then we're fighting again and he's telling me how I should feel sorry for him because he and Slut Puppy have been having marital problems. That was when you butted in." She paused and shot me a grateful smile. "Thanks for that, by the way, kid. I needed to cool off and what you said sure as hell made me feel better."

I smirked. "Quarter to the swear jar." We both laughed and continued eating. Mom got me to talk about school and eventually we moved onto a topic I did not want to discuss.  
>The party.<p>

"Come on, tell me how it was!" She exclaimed, way too excited over something as unimportant and fairly boring as a high school beach party that got rained out. What sucked, though, was that something interesting had happened. Instantly, the image of Jacob popped up in my mind. His smile, the way he got rid of Mark, those eyes that captivated me...Bottomless pits of darkness that drew me in the longer I stared into them.

I sighed. Damn him and his fucking eyes! Damn him and his heroic-ish act! Just...just damn him!

My mom gasped loudly. "I know that look!" She exclaimed, causing my expression to harden. "Somebody met a boy last night," she sing-songed, giving me a conspiratorial look.

I rolled my eyes. "Mom, the male species does attend parties, so yeah, I saw and met guys."

She shook her head. "Oh, no. You met one in particular you liked! I can tell! I had that look after I met your father. Then I found out he'd gotten me knocked up and I wanted his balls on a silver platter." Mom told me proudly. "Now, tell me about this guy. Is he cute? Smart? Funny? Or is he the dark, mysterious type? Or maybe it's the jerk who is secretly sensitive and kind on the inside!" I rolled my eyes. I'd thought the last one was what Mark's type was. Turns out he was just a no-good, filthy bastard who's going to get shot in the face by some heartbroken girl's father one of these days. Or maybe I'll get to him first. Who knows!

I shrugged. "I-"

The front door was flung open before I had a chance to say anything. Maria marched in with a determined look on her face. Her blond hair was pulled into a messy bun and she had on sweats. Obviously she'd just threw something on and left. I guess giving me hell couldn't wait.

At first, I waited for the yelling about how she made a complete fool of herself because she got drunk. But instead, she just watched me with narrowed eyes. I shifted uncomfortably under her gaze, while Mom kept eating, acting completely nonchalant about the fact my best friend was glaring at me at eight in the morning.

I was kind of surprised she was up this early, actually. I thought her hangover would've been major and she wouldn't want to leave her bed.

Finally, she spoke. "Who. Is. He."

And right then and there I was backed into a metaphorical corner by both my mother and Maria. Jacob's identity was something I was unsure about revealing. I doubted I'd ever see him again. And if I did, he probably wouldn't even remember me. I'd decided before I fell asleep last night that he was extremely high or drunk when we talked, which was why he pretended to care about me.

Even someone fake-caring was enough for me. They had pretended to listen, which took some effort, so I didn't care. Not at all. And I was completely content with forgetting that Jacob Black was alive. Or, so I was trying to convince myself.

I sighed, giving up on keeping him a secret as I watched both my mother and Maria glare at me, who had teamed up to take me down. "Take a seat, and I'll tell you what happened."

Immediately, Maria did a sort of happy dance while she squealed before her face took on a neutral, professional expression. She sat in the chair on my right while my mother was sitting in the chair on my left. I looked at the both of them and narrowed my eyes.

"Before I tell you anything, you have to swear that you will tell no one of this. Swear?" I asked.

"I promise." Mom said, smiling.

Maria held her right hand up and kept three of her fingers up in a sort of Girl Scout salute. "I solmnly swear that I am up to no good." I snorted at the Harry Potter reference, but accepted the promise all the same.

I rubbed my temples and thought over the night for a second, trying to remember everything Jacob related. "So, after Hot Ass over here ditched me to have her scantily clad butt grabbed by nearly every jock in Forks High School, I went to get a drink. And I ran into Mark." We all winced at the mention of Grab-Hands. "He tried to put on the moves and just when I was about to threaten to crack his nuts right then and there, this Quileute boy comes up and basically tells him that if he lays a hand on me, he'll lose it. So, Mark tries to have the final word, glaring at me and muttering in Idiot (a language Mark is fluent in), before walking away.  
>"The boy who defended me was named Jacob Black. We hung out for a while before the party broke up and I had to rip Sugar Queen away from a guy who was getting a little grabsy. That's the majority of our encounter. We made fun of the weather and then it bit us in the ass by raining and then I left with the Love Machine passed out in the passenger side. That's it."<p>

Mom and Maria had sighed contentedly when I mentioned that Jacob defended me. Then got frustrated towards the end when I said that we didn't have much of an encounter. Maria snorted whenever I used one of my nicknames for her when she's drunk and horny, but seemed fairly concerned that I hadn't hit on Jacob.

"No sexual encounter?" I shook my head. "Not even a freaking phone number?" I shrugged. "Christ, Katie, what the hell is wrong with you? The guy obviously liked you and you didn't try and get his number?"

I glared. "Well, excuse me, but I was distracted by the fact that Grab-Hands was there and you were practically having sex on the beach with some random guy. I was a little too preoccupied to ask him for his number."

She sighed and rubbed her temple frustratedly. "Did you at least check out his ass?" Now that I thought about it, I did. And might I say, that ass gets an A plus. But I wasn't stoned or drunk enough to tell him that he had a pretty good ass. An ass with potential.

"Yup. And might I say that I'm very happy I did look." I left it at that, getting up to put my empty plate in the sink to put in the dishwasher later, along with my empty mug of coffee.

Maria sighed again. "Hey, babe, while you're up, grab me some coffee, will ya? I need caffine right now." I laughed at her calling me babe, but poured her the coffee.

If her mother ever heard her call another woman, or a man, babe, I was fairly sure she would drop dead from shock. And uttering a curse word? Well, let's just say, you'd better have 911 on speed dial. Maria practically fell out of her chair as soon as she smelt the coffee in the mug I handed her. She was purring and mewing like a cat while she drank it.

So much so I left the room because it was creeping me out. Quickly, I went into my room and changed into a long sleeve, maroon shirt, dark skinny jeans, and my beat-up black Converse. I walked out of my room while putting my hair up in a ponytail, hair band in between my teeth.

I took it out of my mouth and wrapped it around my hair. "Hey, Sugar Queen, you wanna go out with me today? Head to Port Angeles or something? Ma is frustrated 'cause she hasn't had a chance to 'finish her business' with her date from yesterday." Maria sighed and shrugged.  
>"Why not." She muttered, slurping the rest of her coffee. "But before we head to Port Angeles there are two things I wanna do. One is clean up. If we're going out, I need to look at least fairly close to drop-dead gorgeous, otherwise you won't be the only one not getting any, Z," she said, referring to my mom, who refused to be called anything else by anyone I introduced her to. Her full name was Zelda, but she got the nickname Z in college and has used it frequently since then. (According to her she got the nickname, not because her name was Zelda, but because she was the only person in her serority house who could twist their body into a Z formation.)<p>

After that, we left for Maria's. While she got ready, I was forced to socialize with her parents since her mother found it disturbing to have either of us anywhere near each other if one was changing. If one was in the bedroom while the other was in the bathroom and both doors were closed, she considered us too close. Like we were just one step away from being lesbians, and therefore sinners.

But, whatever. Her parents were fairly nice, only criticizing me for wearing such "ratty" shoes, but it wasn't as if I cared. I merely nodded and smiled, pretending I took what they said to heart. I'd come to learn at an early age never to care about a damn thing those people said. Half was bullshit rumors and the other have was bullshit criticism.

When Maria came downstairs in a very conservative outfit and a fairly stuffed purse, she told her parents that we were going out shopping and would be back soon. They trusted her, automatically assuming the shopping would be done in Forks. While we knew they were thinking that, we didn't correct them. It was better if they remained oblivious.

As soon as we rounded the corner, I pulled over and let her change in the back. When Maria hopped back up in the front she was wearing a tight skirt, low-cut top, and jean jacket with the sleeves rolled up. On her feet were some black combat boots because Maria had convinced herself that she was going to bring those back in as a new trend.

"Where to next?" I asked.

She sighed. "La Push. We're finding your man and you are getting his number, no exceptions." I groaned and banged my forehead against the stearing wheel.

"How about we forget he exists and go to Port Angeles?" I asked. Maria merely rolled her eyes while waggling a finger in my face. She wasn't going to cave on this one, that I was sure of just from seeing her expression. Mentally cursing myself, I put the car into drive and headed for La Push.

I was so going to regret this.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: This update took a while because I've been out of town and dealing with school and all that fun stuff. Reviews are love people! Love! For those of you who are reviewing, you get a cyber hug. The rest of you...eh! You can have a cyber hug too! *hugs* ANYWAY, I really need some FF suggestions. I've been mostly reading stuff with a trailer on youtube. I'm pretty sure I've seen just about every fanfiction trailer on youtube-and trust me when I say there are a LOT! So, any suggestions? Thanks!

- HBTC

When I was a little girl, before I knew much of anything, I used to think of life as one big fairytale. And I was always the little princess who would spend her childhood playing with her friends and just being happy 24/7. Then, I would grow up and meet my Prince Charming, after which we would ride off into the sunset together and live happily ever after.

And I always believed in that fantasy of mine. Believed that my prince would come. What I didn't know was sometimes the villian pretends to be a prince because they want a princess, too. So they pretend to have all the wonderful qualities a prince has and the princess falls for them.

But the princess gets hurt by them in the end. Always.

Some princesses live through it, recover and their scars fade. But others, their scars are so pain-sakingly obvious that they alter themselves to live with the pain in their heart. To live with how they feel inside. When I was eleven years old, I found out my mother was one of those hurt princesses. And something inside me snapped. Something broke and I wasn't this happy little girl anymore. I was angry, sarcastic, defensive, and had my heart under lock and key. I didn't want to be heartbroken, so I figured that never loving was easier than suffering through the heartbreak that comes with a relationship.

That's what I still believe.

There's a Marilyn Monroe quote that sums all this up fairly well. "A smart woman kisses, but doesn't love. Leaves before she gets left. And forgets before she gets forgotten."

So, following these requirements, I would be smart if I lived my life like this. And while it may seem sort of lonely and maybe even a little sad, those words are very truthful.

However, I couldn't help but wonder if I wanted to be "smart" as we reached the reservation. I had acted like a smart woman, and had left before I got left. I was keeping my heart safe. Yet, here I was again, completely going against the distance I'd tried to put between myself and this boy. This captivating, mesmerizing boy.

What made this complete stranger worth all the conflicted thoughts going through my mind? What made him worth my time? Worth the daydreaming and trouble? What if he was just another jerk trying to get in my pants? And there was a strong possibility for that one.

It seemed I had a knack for attracting douchebags, so what made him any different?

But there was this part of me that felt the difference. Like I'd felt this shift inside me-in a good way-all because of him. Because I met him.

"Stop!" Maria screeched suddenly and my foot hit the brakes quickly. I finally took in my surroundings and saw that on our right was a diner. The place seemed fairly small and not very packed out. Waitresses were walking around quickly, pencil and notepad in hand. Outside, the sky was it's usual grey hue that seemed to make me feel more depressed the longer I stared at it.

The thick forest behind the diner had a large, open trail that went in, made specificially for the few tourists we got. While the trees towered over us, they did a pretty shitty job of blocking out the rain, considering the ground around and below it was soaked and flattened under our feet as we got out.

Once inside, we got a booth in the back and grabbed a tourist map from the pamphlet podium next to the register. It had the basics of La Push on it. Beaches, hiking trails, shops, restaurants, etc. Maria began marking the different spots we would look for Jacob at-even thinking that made me feel like a stalker. But at the same time I felt this sort of thrill at the thought of seeing him again.

However, telling Maria that would only make her add twice as many search spots to the map because she would think I was as eager as she was. As you can obviously now tell, Maria could be very over-zealous sometimes.  
>A woman with dark hair that had been dyed white-blond-as you could tell from her roots-walked over, smacking on gum and looking utterly bored with us. She seemed around thirty, maybe thirty five, and quite obviously found her job a waste of time. But she put up with it anyway. The woman analyzed us for a moment-her eyes narrowing only slightly when she took in Maria's beauty. Looked at her as competition, possibly. I was nothing though. Just a girl with black hair and blue eyes who could fade into the background easily. I was too plain, too forgettable.<p>

"What can I get you?" She asked with a sigh, eyes still searching Maria for a fault. My dearest friend glared right back, knowing what she was thinking immediately.

Not wanting to deal with Maria getting us kicked out for fighting with a waitress, I said, "Two black coffees, please." The woman nodded and walked away. Maria did this thing where she threw her nose high in the air-signalling she was superior to her-and then flipped her hair over her shoulder before facing me again, eager as ever.

I groaned and laid my head against the table.

"Do I really have to do this? Can't we just go shopping in Port Angeles? Hell, I'd settle for Newton's if it would keep us from acting like creepy stalkers!" I lifted my head slightly for a second to shoot her a pleading look. Which she promptly ignored. My head hit the table again as I wallowed-literally-in my own misery and discomfort.

Maria snorted and I could practically hear her roll her eyes. "Quit being such a drama queen, Katie. I just want you to get laid and quit brooding with your ass on the couch all the time," she muttered, like that was supposed to make me feel better about myself at all.

I grinned sardonically. "Gee, thanks for the pep-talk." I deflect feelings with sarcasm. Just a little tidbit you might want to know.

"Look, I'll tell you the plan and then you can decide, OK?" Maria asked. "But be completely open-minded about it, got it?" She added as an after thought. I shrugged, but nodded anyway. "Cool, so first we're gonna head to First Beach. If no one's there and it looks pretty lifeless, we'll go cruise around the hiking area and where people live to see if you spot him there-"

"Because that doesn't sound like stalking at all!" I put in, sarcasm dripping from every word.

She glared. "Shut the fuck up and listen." Maria snapped, and continued on. "Then, by the time we get done with that-should you not see Prince Jacob-we'll go have lunch at Emily's, that restaurant that just opened up, and stake out the area there. And finally, after all that, and you haven't found sexy-ass, we'll go to Port Angeles to shop for the rest of the day."

I thought it over for a second. Part of me was curious to see if this would work out and was kind of excited by the thought of it all. And the thought of succeeding made butterflies appear in my stomach. However, I also kept wondering why I cared. Jacob was just some guy I talked to. I talked to guys all the time-mainly exchanging insults, but still.

If Dean counted as a guy-which I'm still unsure about-then I talked to at least one guy every single day of my life!

The pause as I thought it all over seemed to be too long for Maria as her hands had started to shake from excitement and she had that eager smile on her face. I could tell she wouldn't last much longer and analyzed my options at lightning speed before I looked at Maria again and narrowed my eyes slightly.

"Fine. I'll do it."

If it was possible, the windows would've shattered, Maria's shriek was so loud. Damn, that girl had a set of pipes. If she ever got in trouble when she was alone, anyone within a ten mile radius would hear that scream. Maria jumped up from her seat across from me-ignoring the stares of the rest of the customers-and threw her arms around my neck, hugging me tightly.

While struggling for breath, Maria was unintentionally throttling me while saying, "You won't regret this!" I smacked her arm as hard as I could and she immediately let go and went back to her seat. When I noticed the crowd still staring, I shot them all a glare before flipping them off, since there were no children within my sight. Half the people here were old and feigned very obvious shock when I flipped them off. One woman glared at me as she sniffed the air, acting like she was all high and mighty.

Back off, Granny, I have to deal with a girl acting like she's on drugs. I'm allowed to be pissed! I thought, rolling my eyes and facing a giggly Maria.

Stupid Maria and her stupid plans.

Fuck.  
>Her.<p>

* * *

><p>The "genius" plan Maria had come up with hadn't worked out as well as she thought. When we got to First Beach, there were a few people there-none of them Jacob-so that was a bust. Maria decided to kill about ten minutes there and managed to single-handedly get us "kicked out" of First Beach by it's inhabitants within those ten minutes. She started chucking rocks in the water and yelling "BOOYAH!" every time it made a huge splash. One rock came too close to a kid as it flew by and the kid's parents went all ape shit on her ass.<p>

So, Area One was a bust. Thanks, Maria, you mentally challenged child.

Then, we had to leave Area Two fairly soon too. Maria's plan for finding Jacob by driving around was actually just her shouting at every guy she saw, "JACOB?" and waiting for them to turn and have me confirm or deny if that was him. After who knows how long, somebody in the houses we were near left their house to yell at us for disturbing the peace and threatened to call the cops. I didn't take a chance and drove away quickly.

So here we were, in Emily's, at around noon while I moped. The whole thing had made me realize how ridiculous the idea was in the first place. What the hell had I been thinking? Maria's plans never work out! She was only good at making nutty plans sound more logical than they actually were.

Maria wasn't discouraged at all, though. She was going to search high and low for Jacob Black. She even considered looking him up on this websit called the White Pages, a website that lists people's addresses and phone numbers.

"It could work."

"No."

"But all I have to do is find a Jacob Black in-"

"No, Maria."

"Come on, Katie, just let me-"

"No. Way."

"Please? I swear that this plan is-"

"No, it's not. That's what you said last time and look what happened."

"But this time is different than last time!"

I growled and narrowed my eyes on my extremely annoying friend. She was so lucky that my mother liked her, it was the only reason I was keeping her alive right now. "There is no way in hell I am letting you cyber-stalk some guy I met at a party! It's weird and creepy and not normal!" I snapped.

She huffed out a loud breath, trying to convey how frustrated she was with me. "Fine. Give up then!"

I flashed her a wide grin and said, "I will, thank you. Once we're done eating, it's off to Port Angeles. Got it, babe?" I asked. She sighed loudly, but nodded anyway, going back to eating her cheese burger.

When I tried to enjoy the silence-since all day Maria had refused to shut up-I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I quickly saw it was my mother and, fighting against my gut instinct not to, answered it.

"Hello?" Let me inform you of something, I could tell my mother was extremely drunk before she uttered one word. She was giggling when I answered and she was breathing really loudly into the phone. Signs I'd come to know as signs of her being extremely drunk.

"H-Hey, K-Kitty Kat." She said, giggling as she fought to get out each word seriously.

I sighed. "Mom, you're drunk." I gave Maria a weird hand signal that meant I was going to finish this extremely embarassing conversation outside and got up from our table. Quickly, I made my way through the small restaurant and out the front door. I walked over to the Green Bomb, and pulled the driver's side door open, taking a seat in the car.

"N-No I'm not. Just havin' some fuuun!" She said, her words mangling and slurred together.

I rubbed my temple with one hand. "Yes, you are, Mom. You are fucking drunk in the middle of the fucking day!" I hissed, completely pissed off at her.

Mom roared with laughter. "R-Remember what Daddy dearest said, pumpkin!" She hiccuped a couple times before giggling again.

"Mom, I am going to hang up. After I do, I want you to call Dean and ask him to come over. I'll get home as soon as I can so he doesn't have to deal with you for too long." I added the last part as more of a note-to-self kind of thing. "Do you understand?"

She laughed. "Yeah, I got it. I'll call Dean-Bean and tell him to get his skinny white ass over here, right now!" Mom yelled the last two words at the top of her lungs before she burst out laughing, finding the whole situation hilarious.

"OK, Mom. I'll be calling Dean to make sure you did in like ten minutes, so do it." I told her. "Because if you don't I swear to go I will call every man in your contact list and tell them that you are a lesbian, and are no longer available as you are Ellen Degeneres's exclusive mistress now."

My mother was roaring with laughter at my threat, but agreed, still giggling. I hung up and prayed to God that she would be a better listener than she normally was when she's drunk...Or when she's sober. Raking a hand through my hair, I sighed and stood up, forgetting I was in a car. My head banged into the door frame of the car and I jerked away from it, grabbing my head as I winced in pain.

"Shit!" I hissed. "Fucking door. Fucking mother and her fucking drunk dialing." I rubbed the offended area on the top of my head as I kept wincing in pain. That was going to be some bump pretty soon.

And the next thing that happened was pretty amazing, if I do say so myself.

A voice from behind me asked, "Are you alright?" And I knew it immediately. I'd recognize that husky voice anywhere. Sadly, enough. I spun around and was face to face...er...face to chest with Jacob Black. The boy I'd been searching for for who knows how long.

Hurt head forgotten, I quickly started fiddling with the hem of my shirt. "Uh...yeah, I'm good. You didn't happen to hear anything recently did you?" I asked, scratching the back of my head.

He chuckled, the sound deep and throaty, and replied, smiling, "I heard a few...choice words." I laughed loudly and rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, I'm so great with words that I use the most offensive ones possible." I shrugged. "Then again, my mother was dating foul-mouthed sailors for half of my childhood, so maybe I was poisoned by them." I thought for a moment and then added, "I always was pretty good with boats, now that I think about it...hmm..."

We both laughed and I shuffled around nervously. Crap, what do I say now? I thought, completely lost. With Mark-may his none-existant penis shrivel up and fall off out of lack of use-I had never had that problem. He would just give me sloppy kisses, throw his arm over my shoulder, and then talk to his friends. I'd thought that was the right thing to do, so I just ignored the offense I felt and did the same.

Jacob looked kind of nervous too and looked back and forth between me and the door to Emily's. "Are you...um..leaving?" He asked, sounding almost saddened by that thought.

I shook my head. "No, I just came out here to finish a phone call." I sighed. "A very frustrating phone call! But, anyway, I have a friend waiting for me inside."

He smiled at me and said, "Cool. Me and a friend of mine were just going in to say hi to the owner-Emily-and give her a message from her husband, Sam." I was kind of shocked at the mention of a friend until I noticed the boy standing next to Jacob. He gave me this kind of half smile, looking very...boyish.

He looked like a mini Jacob, the same copper or russet skin and cropped black hair. Plus the muscles and height.

"This is Seth Clearwater. Seth, this is Katie." Jacob introduced quickly.

I smiled at him. "It's nice to meet you."

He grinned back. "It's nice to finally meet the infamous Katie. This guy has been talking about you nonstop since you met at that party." After he said this, Jacob promptly elbowed him in the gut so hard, Seth stumbled backwards a little bit. Well, it was nice to know I was the only one obsessing. Unless Seth was exaggerating.

In which case: Oh, shit.

Jacob's cheeks were a darker color and he was staring at his feet. "I wasn't talking about you nonstop." I raised an eyebrow. "Not that you're not worth talking about nonstop! You are-just-just I didn't talk about you a lot! Hardly at all-I mean, no, I did, but I didn't-" Now both eyebrows were practically touching my hairline. "What I'm trying to say is-"

Seth got frustrated and cut him off. "Will you just go out with him? Say you'll go out with him before he stutters himself into oblivion." While I was stunned by the sudden demand, a small smile crept up on my face. Seth was definitely my kind of friend. Jacob looked horrified by what Seth had just said and I assumed that meant that he didn't want to go out with me. And now Jacob was going to have to break it to me that that wasn't his intension at all. Go figure.

Quickly, Jacob turned to face me and shook his head. "No one's forcing you, just so you know. Seth just isn't very good with words when he's hungry."

I raised my eyebrows back up to my hairline.

"So...you do want me to go out with you?"

Jacob sighed, extremely embarrassed, and nodded.

I shrugged. "No."

A heartbroken, miserable look appeared on his face. Like I'd just insulted him in the worst way possible. I was a little stunned, but kept to my guns. I wasn't going to break because he looked like I'd just run over his beloved puppy.

"No." I repeated. "Not until you ask me properly. I don't accept dates in the form of orders barked at me by a friend of the guy's." I shrugged. "Sorry. That's not the way I roll."

Now, Jacob was fighting a grin. He got down on one knee and looked up at me with those dark eyes that could work wonders on my heart rate. "Katherine Stiles, will you do me the honor of going out with me Friday night?" He asked. I smiled.

"Since you bowed down to me-and I never have a problem with that-I guess I'll go." I told him, grinning from ear to ear as he stood up. Jacob laughed and told me he'd keep that in mind the next time he asked me about something.

The three of us headed back inside and while they went into the back, I sat back down in front of Maria. I was faced with a very angry girl. Her lips were pursed, eyes narrowed, and she looked like I'd just announced I was purposely killing off every endangered species known to man.

I sighed. "Whatever it is you think I did, I didn't. And if I did, it wasn't on purpose...probably."

She scoffed. "As if you don't know!" Maria hissed. "Hitting on some guy when you should be looking for You-Know-Who? Seriously Katie? You're more messed up in the head than I am!"

I snorted, in a very lady-like way, I might add, and muttered, "Maria, no one could ever reach the level you're at when it comes to being messed up. And the guy I was 'hitting on' was You-Know-Who!" When I said that she immediately forgot she was pissed and huddled closer to me.

"What happened? What did he say? Did you check out his butt again?"

I rolled my eyes, but answered anyway. "We talked for a minute. Then his friend ordered me to go out with Jacob. Then I told Jacob to formally ask me, which he did, and then I said yes. As for the last one, no, I didn't stare at his ass at any point during our conversation." I winked. "I don't need to, I've got that picture in my mind for all eternity."

She laughed, but seemed more excited about my date than I was. I mean, yes, I did like the idea of the date. And thinking about that made me happy, but Maria...she just took excitement to a whole new level. By the time I'd stopped her, she was already scribbling down a

script for what I should say while I'm on this date.

"Cool it. It's just a date. Nothing serious."

"For now!" Maria exclaimed. "He could be your one and only! Your first and last!" She swung her arms out on either side of her, spreading them out as far as she could.

I snorted and rolled my eyes at the same time. "I highly doubt that, Maria."

The idea that a relationship in high school wouldn't work out seemed completely foreign to her. She gave me a look that someone would give you if you started rambling in a different language. "What do you mean?"

I sighed. "Relationships end in three ways: break-up, divorce, or death. All are extremely depressing and not fun to go through. If we do start a relationship, Jacob and I will probably break-up not long after. Those early relationships never last. I mean, look at my mom, she married a guy who she dated when she was young and they got married young and he cheated on her with a stripper before he married the brainless wonder!"

Maria made this tsking noise, trying to make her disapproval of my views on relationships as obvious as possible. "Katie. Cynical, cynical, Katie. Some people marry their high school sweethearts."

"Delusional people," I muttered under my breath.

"You need to have a little faith. A little optimism. Quit being so pessimistic and try to be open-minded."

I sighed. "I'm being realistic here, Maria. Not pessimistic."

"You want to know what I think? I think you're afraid." Maria told me, giving me one of the few serious expressions she can do. "You're afraid you'll end up like your mom and have your heart broken. Become as fucked up as she is and never be the same. But you want to know what, Katie? You're never going to live life to it's fullest if you don't risk it every once in a while!"

I glared at her. "So what if I'm afraid? I have every right to be. I've seen first hand how fucked up you can get. I mean, my mom lost her parents and husband within months of each other. She was depressed for months, she hardly ever wanted to leave her bed. I don't want to feel as broken and empty as she did. I don't want some guy making me feel like life itself has no meaning anymore-I don't want anyone to make me feel that way." I sat back in my chair again and wiped my face of any emotion. Any angry, sad, or hurt feelings I had were bottled up in my chest, making me feel short of breath, but I ignored the constricting feeling. "I'm being safe." I said simply and crossed my arms, signalling I was done talking about it.

Maria put her hands up in front of her, showing her defeat, and then changed the subject. We hurried through the rest of lunch. As we were about to pay, Jacob came over to our table out of the blue. Maria was grinning from ear to ear, but I shot her a look that meant to chill out. I didn't need her freaking him out by prying.

"Hey," Jacob breathed, smiling at me. His gaze was completely focused on me, oblivious to Maria's presence. Which was a first. Every guy in the same room as Maria noticed her immediately. Like it was a reflex reaction.

I grinned back. "Hi," I replied. Maria gave me this look that ordered me to introduce her. "Jacob, this is my best friend Maria. Maria, this is Jacob." He ripped his eyes from me and gave her a friendly, charming smile. The kind that gave me heart palpatations and made doctors feel concerned.

"It's nice to meet you," Jacob told her, sounding sincere. I watched the exchange with interest. Checked him for any signs of "Maria Fever" as I liked to call it. Mark had, but I'd ignored it, and look where that got me.

But Jacob seemed perfectly fine. Polite and not drooling over her. His eyes still strayed towards me, though. Like he was making sure I didn't suddenly disappear. "Likewise. Katie's done nothing but gush over you since the party." She added the last part to aggrivate me.

I smiled at her. "Just like she's done nothing but puke up her guts since the party. Isn't the aftermath of inducing gallons of alcohol the darndest thing?" I said, acting completely innocent. Meanwhile, Jacob was fighting a grin and gazing at me with some emotion in his eyes

that I couldn't read.

"Well, I'd better get going, but before I do, I forgot to get your number." He said hurriedly, looking slightly sheepish. "I don't know how we're supposed to go out Friday if we have no way of contacting each other."

"ESP?" I offered teasingly, but exchanged numbers with him anyway. He left after that, looking extremely sad when he did. There was something about this boy. Something good. Being around him made me feel...complete? Was that the word? I felt happy and light-hearted.

We left shortly after, me rushing home to my mother after I dropped Maria off at Newton's to meet up with some of her other friends. When I entered the house, I found Dean trying to get Mom to lay down and stay still. She clawed at his head, looking ditsy and playful as she did it, but I could tell that every time she got a hold of his head that it hurt.

"Mom!" I yelled, pulling her away from Dean and trying to steady her. "Mom, calm down. Deep breaths." She started giggling and patted my cheek.

"Such a cutie! But you need to work on those eyebrows of yours!" She poked the space between my eyebrows with her bony index finger. "The one thing you got from your father just had to be his bushy eyebrows!" Mom exclaimed, throwing her arms up in the air. She grinned at me and the promptly fell onto the couch, exhausted.

Dean and I exchanged a look before facing our passed out mother. She was going to have a killer hang over in the morning. I told Dean to go home, that Rita would appreciate getting her fiancé back. He accepted the offer to leave a little too quickly in my opinion. He could at least act like he was considering helping me.

What I hadn't thought through was how I would get her out of the living room. Which then caused me to spend an hour trying to get her propped up against me so I could drag her to her bedroom. Two problems with that plan, though. One, my mother refuses to do anything you want her to, concious or not. And two, I wasn't strong enough to drag her across the house by myself.

So, after another hour, the progress I'd made was my mother was no longer passed out on the couch. Instead, she was lying on her stomach in the middle of the hardwood floor. Half way through the second hour I'd tried waking her up, which failed miserably. The most I got out of her was a snort or grunt. Maybe.

Mom was out cold.

I considered dragging her across the floor, but decided against it. I didn't want to get blamed for her arms being sore because I dragged her across the floor into her room by her bony wrists. Plus she would probably get carpet burns if I dragged her into her room, since she had a giant, fuzzy white rug sitting in the middle of the floor, near the doorway.

It was about ¾ into hour three when I finally got her up on her bed, face crammed against the pillows and hair a wild mess. The things I did for her.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: So, in honor of the release of Breaking Dawn Part 1, I've decided to update early. A little gift, I guess. That and it gives me something to distract myself with while freaking out over when I can finally go see it. I'm hoping that it'll be as awesome as the people who went to see the midnight premiere said. Oh, well, until then, here's chapter 5.**

**- HBTC**

The week leading up to Friday was fairly normal. At school on Monday, Mark pretended that the whole encounter between us never happened, but I still caught him glancing at me every once in a while. Each time I sent him a death glare and he would look away like the little chicken shit he was. Maria was gushing about my date, demanding that I tell her every little detail about what happened when Jacob asked me out.

And when she got the full-on every-gooey-little-detail version of what happened, she gushed even more, mainly repeating how sweet Jacob seemed. So, all in all, she was very excited for me.  
>Dean was the opposite. When Maria started telling my mother after school Monday all about Jacob, he had some objections. Like the fact that I knew hardly anything about him. I think Dean expected me to scour the internet for information about, or related to, Jacob.<p>

Background check and all. Then he asked why Jacob hadn't asked for a parent or guardian's permission to take me out on a date.

All I'd said back was, "Not everyone is stuck in the early 20th century mind-set, Dean." He shut up after that.

Every comment my mother made was sexual. Whether it was an innuendo or telling me to pack a couple condoms in my purse. Then she told me the way to seem experienced even if it was my first time. I tried stopping her during her little "lessons" hundreds of times, but she promptly ignored my objections. Maria was paying very close attention during these "lessons", which was very unnerving.

And then came Friday.

Earlier in the week, Jacob had called and asked me if going out to dinner was alright. Of course, I was fine with that. The conversation wasn't very long because he had to go to work. I'd managed to find out that the dinner was semi-formal.

"What the fuck does 'semi-formal' even mean?" I asked Maria during lunch on Friday. She was trying to sort through the different guys that were labelled as "possibilities" for her date to the spring dance in a month. It was a very long list.

My best friend sighed dramatically and looked up. "Well, I would say it calls for either a cute dress or a nice skirt. No fancy-schmancy dress or heavily applied make up."

I nodded. "OK, got it. I'll just wear a jean skirt and a button up shirt or something."

Apparently, what I'd said was the wrong thing to say. Maria slowly lifted her eyes from the list and narrowed them on me even more slowly. Like she was having trouble comprehending why I just said what I said.  
>"Excuse me?"<p>

I sighed. "I said, I'll just wear a jean skirt or something."

"You insult me!" Maria exclaimed. "Did you actually think that I would let you pick out your own outfit? You, my friend, are mentally challenged when it comes to fashion. I'll be coming over around four to help you get ready."

I raised an eyebrow. "But that's like two hours before Jacob is coming to pick me up."

She just shrugged and went back to focusing on her list of names.

Maria kept true to her word. At four o'clock on the dot, she strutted into my house and dragged me to my bedroom to pick out an outfit. We ended up picking out a black, flared mini skirt and a purple halter top. Along with ballet flats that same purple color and a black cardigan (mainly because I demanded that I wear something I won't freeze to death in). The whole process of picking out that fairly simple outfit took an hour.

And then it took about forty-five minutes to do my hair because Maria spent half that time debating with my mother on which style looked the best. After a while we just decided to curl it and be done with it. My make up took the least amount of time because I did it. Merely applying a layer of mascara and some lip gloss, I was good to go.

As I was checking myself for any problems, I heard my mother yell, "Katie! Someone's at the door!" I could already tell she'd had a little too much to drink.

Thinking that no one had opened the door yet, I started yelling back, "Maria, why the hell did you trust my mother with-" I caught myself when I saw that Mom had already let Jacob in. I took in his handsome appearance slowly. He had on a dark blue dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and some dark jeans. Jacob's grin was so wide as he stared back at me I thought his face would crack. I met his eyes and instantly melted. Still the same dark color I remembered. Still the same pair of eyes that had captivated me since our first meeting.

The tight knot in my stomach was gone as soon as he breathed, "You look beautiful," his husky voice tender and soft. I smiled and glanced at my feet, embarrassed slightly.

"Not so bad yourself." I replied, eyes still locked on the ground.

My mother interrupted. "Why the hell are you staring at the ground when this fine hunk of young man is right in front of you?" She asked shamelessly. Immediately, I glared at her before snatching the wine glass out of her hand. Dumping it's contents down the drain while Jacob chuckled, I shot Mom a warning look.

"Please behave yourself," I begged, not wanting to fight.

She snorted. "Calm down, Maria's gonna Mommy-sit while you're on your date. She'll be back with movies any minute." Mom gave me a hug before she practically shoved the two of us out the door.

For a moment, everything was silent. It was one of those awkward, poignant silences. The kind that weighed down on you until someone broke it.

I did this time.

"Sorry about that, she's just not a very...subtle person." I murmured as we headed towards the car sitting in the driveway. It was a red Volkswagen Rabbit. It was old and slightly-beat up looking, but in fairly good condition, from what I could tell. To my surprise, Jacob was already holding the passenger side door open for me, waiting for me to get in. I smiled shyly and did so, surprised when he shut the door as gently as possible. As if he was afraid to hurt me or the car by slamming it.

At first, the car ride was silent. Both of us happy with the lack of conversation and focus on the route. But, after a few minutes, I couldn't take it. I felt agitated and jittery, the need to fill the silence with conversation overwhelming.

"OK, the lack of conversation is killing me!" I blurted and Jacob smiled slightly at how on edge I sounded. How urgent.

His grin widened and he asked, "How about we play a game of 20 questions?"

"The kind where I think of something and you guess what it is?" I was confused. How did this help us get to know each other better at all? He shook his head.

"More like I ask a question and you answer. Then when I've finished my twenty, you get to ask." Jacob told me, his words smooth and easily flowing out of his mouth. He sounded so...open. Like I could take whatever I wanted from him and he would be glad to give it up. It was...different.

I sighed. "Alright. Ask away."

"First question, what is your favorite color?"

I jerked my head towards him to shoot him a disbelieving look. "Really? Of all the questions to ask, you ask that?"

He shrugged. "Never said they'd be original," Jacob teased. I snorted, but answered anyway.

"It changes too often to pick one."

"Fine, what is it right now?"

I thought about that for a moment. My eyes strayed out my window in time to see the sunset, the pinks and oranges and reds coloring the sky. Almost immediately after, I murmured, "Sunset orange."

Jacob was confused. "What?"

I turned to look at him and dragged my eyes from him when they started to distract me. "Sunset orange. It's that shade of orange that isn't too light, but isn't as harsh. It's kind of beautiful, actually." Nervously, my eyes met his and found that they were clouded with tons of emotions. Most of which I couldn't make out.

The car ride didn't last much longer than that. The rest of our time in the car was spent with Jacob telling me funny stories about the mischief he and his friends caused when they were younger. Like the time they set his sister's Barbie doll on fire.

"You should've seen her face!" He exclaimed happily, grinning from ear to ear. "Priceless." We both chuckled at the mental image in our heads. His sister, red faced and holding up a very charred doll. The poor girl.

I sighed. "I remember that once I put a handful of worms in my brother's-" I didn't finish my sentence.

We'd stopped and I finally noticed where we were. First Beach. Closer towards the drier sand, a candle-lit table was set up. A red and white checkered cloth was over the small, square table and two foldable chairs were on either side. Silverware and plates were already set out. And a medium sized picnic basket was sitting in one of the chairs, containing the food.

Finally coming out of my state of shock, I noticed Jacob watching me with a slightly sheepish expression. Afraid he'd done something wrong. Or that I didn't like it. But it was quite the opposite.

As if on instinct, I leaned over to Jacob and pecked his cheek. "This is really nice, Jacob," I told him, trying to convey how appreciative I felt. The boy beside me had been so caught up in rubbing the area where I'd kissed his cheek that he barely caught what I said.  
>"Hmm? Oh! It's nothing." He murmured, finally returning from dream land. I smirked slightly at how far off his thoughts were. How off track my kiss had put him.<p>

Jacob jumped out of the Rabbit and came to my side, helping me out unnecessarily. We walked over to the table and I jumped into my chair before he could get to it to and pull it out for me. While I knew he was trying to be a gentleman, I didn't need his help with everything.

Quickly, he opened the basket and started setting out the food. He had spaghetti in a container, two bottles of water, garlic bread, and another container which he stuck back in the basket after unloading the rest of the stuff. We each got a large portion of spaghetti-his taking up nearly all of his plate-and a piece of garlic bread.

"OK, so, what's with the fancy candle-lit dinner?" I asked. At his crestfallen expression, I quickly added, "Not that all this is bad. Far from it. It's just...most guys don't want to go through the trouble."

Jacob gave me a small, almost sad, smile. "You deserve so much better than some crummy dinner at a diner." His smile widened. "Which is why I brought the best food I've ever put in my mouth. Emily's cooking."

I raised an eyebrow. "You got take-out from Emily's?"

He shook his head. "No, I know Emily and she made all this." I chuckled.

"That's right. I forgot you have connections."

"You know it!"

We grinned at each other before digging in. I had to admit, Jacob was right. This food was the best thing I'd ever put in my mouth. If the spaghetti was a person, I'd marry them in a heartbeat. If Jacob didn't get to them first, of course, judging by the way he snarfed his down.

"So," Jacob started after a moment, "tell me about yourself."

I sighed. "What do you want to know?"

He shrugged in response. "Anything."

There was a pause as I thought for a moment. Anything? Suddenly, a thought came to mind and I grinned. "I love eating french fries dipped in a chocolate milkshake," I told him.

At first he looked slightly incredulous before he laughed and answered, "Me too."

"I have a lot of odd food combinations."

"Like...?" He prompted.

I bit my lip. "OK, promise not to make disgusted faces as I list my loves?" He nodded vehemently. "Baked potatoes and french dressing. Hot sauce and chocolate. Pickles and honey mustard. Bread rolls dipped in hot chocolate." When I was done, Jacob was fighting a grin. I narrowed my eyes playfully. "Not one word, Mr. Black. Not a word."

While he nodded, Jacob was still trying not to laugh. "Of c-course." He said, one tiny chuckle escaping.

"Fuck. You."

"Finally confessing your hidden desire, Katie?"

I rolled my eyes. "My desire to have your head on a silver platter is no secret, you horrible boy." He did this sort of pouty look, like the expressions you saw on the faces of puppies in the Sarge's commercials.

"I'm sorry, Katie. Forgive me?" He asked. "Please?"

Sighing in fake-exasperation, I murmured, "Beg on your knees and I'll consider it."

The rest of the night was wonderful. Jacob and I talked about everything and nothing. He was just so-dare I say it?-wonderful. Mark's polar opposite. Jacob was so attentive, sweet, funny, handsome, charming, and just an all-around great guy. I didn't deserved him, as damaged as I was, but one of my bad qualities was I am a selfish person.

Even though I knew I should've ended it at the end of the night, saying he should find a better girl, I didn't. Our date ended in an entirely different way.

Jacob and I stood on the porch of my house, in the middle of an awkward silence.

"I had a wonderful time," I told him, finally. He smiled softly.

"You can't comprehend how much I enjoyed our date." Jacob said passionately, those dark orbs of his boring into my blue ones. I looked away.

"I...I'll call you tomorrow." I told him, heading for the door. Understanding this was the end of the date, Jacob nodded and headed for his car. As I was about to go inside, I stopped, frozen.

What the hell was I doing? What was stopping me from ending this date the way I wanted it to? And with that in mind, I spun around on my heel and caught Jacob before he got into the Rabbit.

While he looked mildly surprised, he didn't ask what I was doing. Instead, he waited for me to speak. I didn't say a word though. I just leaned up on my tip-toes and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling his face down to mine.

And I kissed him.

The kiss was the kind you could feel all over. You didn't have to be touching, you felt their presence. Could practically count the molecules in the air seperating you from him. And it made your toes curl, your blood bubble with that spark you felt. The spark that connected the two of you. A shock viberated through me, goosebumps popping up on my arms and a shiver dragging down my spine. I felt light-headed and breathless, pouring all of my engery into this one kiss.

Jacob's lips were fiery. Literally. They felt like he'd been holding a hot frying pan to them for hours. It was odd, having a chilling sensation run through you while being pressed against something so hot. His heat radiated off of him in waves, cancelling out the cool Washington air.

When we pulled away, panting slightly, both of us were grinning like idiots. Him more so than me. I gave him a small nod and then rushed up the steps and inside.

My heart pounded in my chest as I shut the door behind me. I was on a sort of high from the kiss. I felt elated and happy and excited and better than I had in a long time. But at the same time, I felt this sort of ache in the pit of my stomach. Like I was missing a piece of me. A piece I'd left with Jacob. But I didn't let that gnawing feeling bother me. And I remained on my I-just-kissed-Jacob high...

...Until I walked into the living room and took in the sight before me. My mother had Dean's-who'd shown up while I was gone, evidently-head in her lap as she stroked his hair. Maria had his legs in her lap and she looked at him with a grave expression, an emotion I'd never even seen her express.

And then there was my brother. He looked miserable. Like someone had gutted him and taken out everything inside him, leaving this empty shell behind. And that shell felt nothing but misery and depression. A dark cloud hung over his head and his eyes were red and puffy.

"What's wrong?" I asked tentatively. Simultaniously, they turned to look at me. My mother looked sad and her eyes held some sort of warning that was to prepare me for what I was about to hear. Dean looked even more miserable than when I'd walked in-and I didn't even know that was possible! And Maria looked angry. Not at me, but she'd thought of something that upset her.

"Please, tell me," I begged, desperate for an explanation.

Dean sighed and sat up, placing his head in his hands. But before he did, he managed to choke out one barely audible sentence, "Rita cheated on me."

And I could only identify one emotion at first.

Fury.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: So, I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving! I stuffed my face with delicious food and regretted it later. Plus this year there were a ton of left overs so that's what I've been living off of for the past few days. Anyway, I'm really grateful about how many people have started reading Breakable and I hope that you guys enjoy reading it as much as I do writing it. And while that last comment is a little cheesy, it's true.**

**Sorry about this chapter being on the short side. I've been really busy lately and squeezing writing into my schedule has resulted in very late nights. But I think that my update schedule is pretty good, at least my update average is about a week. I'm probably boring you with this, so I'll shut up now (although probably the majority of you didn't even bother reading the author's not).**

**Well, feel free to leave a review *hint, hint* or PM me if you have any questions/comments!**

**- HBTC**

After I'd gotten over my initial shock and anger at my brother's now ex-fiancée, Dean told me the entire story. Stopping a few times to let out a depressed moan or a choked sob.

Apparently, Rita had been cheating for months. Ever since they got engaged. Since she was a model, she'd gone off on some shoot in Paris and there was another male model there. At first, according to her bullshit explanation, she'd "resisted" his advances. (I didn't believe a word of that, but that small detail seemed to comfort Dean, so I kept my mouth shut.) But, she went out to a bar with some other models one night and had too much to drink.

She slept with him. And the next morning, she'd had such a wonderful time, she continued the affair. According to Dean, he'd noticed their sex life deteriorating, but thought it was because of the avid wedding planning Rita had been involved with.

So, today, Dean had been planning on going to Seattle for the weekend to catch up with an old friend. Rita thought it was the perfect time to have the male model, Juan, over without him knowing. Dean's friend was sick when Dean got there, so he decided not to waste his time in Seattle and went home.

Only to find Rita and Juan having sex in their bedroom. He got upset, she gave a short, bullshit explanation, and then he rushed over here. Where he'd been getting comfort from our mother and Maria, whom he always thought of as another little sister.  
>The morning after he spilled the beans, I was still as furious as ever. So furious that I was prepared to decapitate Rita publicly if I had the chance. I'd do it publicly because I wanted the satisfaction of her death to be a public humiliation. Yeah, that's right, I'm evil.<p>

Maria had spent the night, staying up late with Dean, listing to him vent about how he felt. I couldn't handle it-which was really obvious since I'd been muttering death threats to Rita under my breath the entire time. And this whole situation brought back bad memories for Mom. So, Maria took over for us.

I woke up around seven-thirty with a plan formed in my mind. And when I marched through the house at eight o'clock, Mom already knew where I was going. And she approved.

When a familiar house came into view, I pulled into the driveway and parked my car. Since there was no expensive sports car in the driveway, I assumed Juan was gone. I got out of the Green Bomb and marched up to the front door.

My fist pounded against the door loudly and hard as I let out the need to punch Rita. The door swung open to reveal a hardly awake Rita.

But her eyes went as wide as saucers as she realized who was standing at the door. And now entering her house.

"Listen, Katie, I can-"

I cut her off. "'Katie' is reserved for people I like. And I sure as hell don't like you. Now, I'm sure you're thinking that I came here to pound your skinny model ass until you are twitching on the ground because that's all you'll be able to physically do after said beat down. And as tempting as that mental image is, I won't." Her body sagged with relief. "Instead, I'm going to make you feel as hurt as my brother did. And then let you wallow in your misery for all eternity. Let's begin, shall we?

"Now, I'm sure my brother has never told you anything about our father. And if he did, it was just a brief 'we don't see him very much anymore.' Well, guess what? He didn't tell you the whole truth. I never knew my father that well before he left. He left when I was two. And you wanna know why he left? Because he cheated on our mother with some cheap slut who has an old man fetish."

Recognition lit up Rita's eyes as she realized where I was going with this. I smirked. "Yep, that's right. You just really know how to get 'em good, don't you? When Dad left, he felt abandoned. When Dad cheated, he felt betrayed, too. And you know what you did? You threw

that right back in his face. Made him feel unworthy and unloved. Just like dear ole Dad.

"So, congrats. I've only seen my brother cry once, but you got him to turn into a blubbering mess. So while you're fucking some brainless manwhore, I hope you think of the pain you caused. Of the hell you put him through. And guess what, Rita dear? I came here to tell you that you'd better pack up and get your scrawny ass as far away from my brother as possible, otherwise I will personally track you down and give you the beat down mentioned earlier." I threatened. "Got it?"

Rita nodded, eyes wide and afraid. She looked like she was about to cry too. My mission was accomplished. And with that, I strutted out of the house like I owned it and left a backstabbing slut alone inside.

Because she sure as hell deserved it.

The rest of the day was fairly depressing. Dean refused to go anywhere and only wanted to lay in bed, wallowing in his misery. My heart kept breaking over and over again for him. I wanted him to forget Rita. I wanted to see him smile again.

Maria was such a great friend to my brother Saturday. She helped cheer him up, watching old movies with him and laughing at ridiculous reality TV shows. I figured that it was better if he hung out with her today. Dean needed a less familiar face and someone who could make him forget about Rita easily.

That someone was Maria. And it was days like that that I was thankful that I accidentally made us both fall down a flight of stairs on my first day of school.

Sunday was similar except Dean was less depressed. He actually left his room. But that cloud of depression was still close. Always hovering as close by as possible. It was a sad sight to see. One I didn't want to see.

Around noon, I called Jacob.

"Hello?" The sound of his deep voice sent shivers down my spine. It radiated strength and masculinity, but was equally soft and smooth.

"Hey, hot stuff," I said. He let out a light, airy chuckle.

"What's up?"

I sighed. "Can you meet me somewhere? Or are you working?"

There was a pause, the static of the phone the only thing I could hear. Finally, his husky voice replied, "I'm free. Where to?" He sounded concerned. And he had every right to be, didn't he? I was nearly as miserable as Dean and I needed someone to brighten my mood. That someone being a particular dark-eyed Quileute.

"First Beach. Ten minutes."

The line went dead and I grabbed my keys before rushing out the door.

The weather seemed to reflect my mood. The sky was a darker shade of grey than usual and rain was gushing down. Water pounded against my windshield, the drumming noise making me wince. By the time I'd parked near the beach and trekked down towards it to find Jacob, my clothes were soaked all the way through.

My hair was pitch black from being wet, like ink, and my skin was paler than usual from being so cold. I glanced around me and sighed with relief when I saw a familiar red car pull up. Almost immediately, Jacob raced from his car over to me, his expression frantic.

"Are you alright?" He asked. "What happened? Is something wrong?" Then he took in my soaked appearance and chattering teeth and went all ape shit. "What the hell! Katie, you could freeze to death! You could get pneumonia and die!" He jerked off his mostly dry shirt and tried to use it as some sort of cover while he forced me to race over towards the cliffs that leaned out and covered parts of the beach.

I tried not to get distracted by Jacob's abs and muscled body as we sat down under the covered area and he handed me his shirt to do some damage control with it. Mostly, I left my clothes alone and just tried to wring out my hair so it would stop dripping down my back and into my shirt.

The Quileute boy beside me radiated heat. He was extremely warm, almost like he had a fever, and I couldn't help but gravitate towards him. What surprised me more was his body was fairly dry. Like he hadn't been jogging in the rain with no shirt on. I tried to ignore both weird facts and scooted towards him, not pressing against Jacob, but being close enough to feel his heat wash over me in waves.

At first, neither of us said anything. Jacob was waiting for me to explain my sudden phone call and I was trying to figure out how to explain it.

"Love sucks, doesn't it? It gives someone else permission to get inside you and mess you up. It makes you so vulnerable..." I murmured, staring off into space, not meeting his gaze.

Jacob cleared his throat. "Are you saying this from experience? Or...?" He left the question open for explanation.

"I have one sibling, Dean. He's 24 years-old and such a wuss, but I love him. He was engaged when I left for our date Friday and when I got back, he wasn't." I told him, still not meeting his eyes. "His fiancée, Rita, cheated on him with a male model named Juan. Had been for months." I blew out a long, slow sigh and finally turned to meet Jacob's gaze. I felt so vulnerable, like his dark eyes could see into my soul. See every fear and dirty little secret I carried within me.

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and tucked me into his side. The gesture was comforting and appreciated. I felt this sort of electric shock whenever we touched. Now, the shock had melted into hot lava that warmed me inside and out. Like drinking hot coffee on a cold morning during the winter.

"Tell me something about yourself before I go crazy. I need to think about something else," I said desperately. I didn't want to remember Dean's pain. I didn't want to close my eyes and have an image of his broken form flash behind my eyes.

Jacob thought for a moment, trying to figure out what would make me forget anything bad was going on. "I got my first kiss during a game of Spin the Bottle." He blurted out.

I couldn't help it. I laughed. Loudly.

"Spin the Bottle?"

"Yeah. Got a problem with kissing games?" He teased.

"More like I'm finding your first kiss incredibly cliché." I turned to grin at him. "At least my first kiss wasn't stereotypical," I added snootily. It was ridiculous that I felt high and mighty about my first kiss. It was a fucking kiss. But then again, I never had understood how my mind worked.

Jacob's fist clenched beside me. "Who was it?" He managed to grind out through gritted teeth. I rolled my eyes at the ridiculousness of him getting jealous of my first kiss.

"His name was Marco. I was thirteen and he was fourteen. It happened during the last few months we were in Italy." I murmured, the memories slowly coming back. "Marco's mother and my mom were hanging out, so he and I decided to run around town for a while. Then, while we were trying to see who could run faster from place to place, he stopped me suddenly and just...kissed me." Towards the end I sounded almost wistful, which was utter bullshit. After Marco kissed me, I never spoke to him again. We went home in silence and my family and I packed up and left before I had a chance to speak to Marco again.

Again, Jacob seemed frustrated by the thought of Marco kissing me. "Did you date Marco?" He asked.

I snorted. "No. And I'm glad, too. A friend of mine from Italy, who I email every once in a while, informed me when I got back to America that Marco began whoring around with women in their 30's after that." I shuddered at the thought. Jacob let out a loud, almost relieved, laugh and let his arm slip around my waist as he pulled me close.

And in that moment of silence, I felt truly complete. I didn't feel like I was missing anything, I didn't feel lonely. I felt genuinely happy. While it's true it didn't make sense for me to be thinking like this when I'd only known Jacob for like a week, but it was true.  
>I couldn't explain it, just knew it was right.<p>

So, as if it was some sort of instinct, I placed my hand on Jacob's cheek and watched as he slowly turned to look at me, evidently confused. But, so was I. And I don't know what possessed me to do it, but I kissed him. Again.

I wasn't sure what I was trying to do. Communicate some sort of message? Thank him? Hell if I know. All I could do was kiss him with all I had and pray he didn't shove me away.

At first, Jacob hesitated. He didn't really respond, just left me hanging, wondering if I should pull away because I was being too pushy or something. But then he pressed himself closer to me and moved his hand up to my face to grasp my face. And I felt that hollow spot in me, the one I got from seeing my older brother act so depressed, close up.

Our lips moved in syncronization, fitting together like puzzle pieces. My hand went from cupping his jaw to running it up into his hair. My fingers latched on and clinged to him, to the wonderful feeling of having his mouth against mine. Jacob's tongue tranced the seam of my lips and I let out a little gasp, giving him the access he wanted.

I leaned backwards, laying down and taking him with me. As the heated make-out session progressed, the less real everything seemed. It felt like I was in this foggy haze of happiness that was so perfect it had to be a fantasy. No one could be this happy. It just didn't seem possible.

Jacob eventually dragged his lips from mine and let out a shaky breath. "We should," he swallowed and tried to control his panting from the lack of oxygen he'd experienced earlier. "We should stop before things go too far."

Still in a daze, I merely nodded and fought to keep that goofy grin on my face under control. He laid down next to me and we turned on our sides so we were facing each other, both of our backs coated with sand.

"How did I manage to land you, pretty boy? Because, you know, you're kind of amazing." I teased, giving him a small grin. Jacob let out a breathy chuckle and pulled me closer to him, his hot breaths crashing down on me. It made me think of the kiss and my hand almost slipped up to press my fingers against my lips. Damn, he was a good kisser. And he tasted like vanilla.

"More like, how did I get so lucky and convince you to go out with me?" He replied teasingly.

I smiled. "Getting down on one knee to beg me for a date did the trick, if I remember correctly. And I wish I'd had a camera because that would have made my day."

Jacob merely rolled his eyes and pressed his lips to my forehead, the gesture taking my breath away. This boy was a very dangerous obstacle indeed. He was one high-risk cause.

I, Katrina Stiles, was very much in danger of falling in love with Jacob Black.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Now, I know it's been a while. But I don't see the harm in waiting a little while...**

**Katie: You weren't the one trapped on your computer for weeks!**

**Me: Shut up! You're just a fictional character! Piss off!**

**Katie: *sing-song* Obviously, somebody hasn't gotten any lovin' in quite some time...**

**Me: Shut the fuck up or I'll sick Jacob on you!**

**Katie: *rolls eyes* Puh-lease! He's my boyfriend! I'm the one who gets to sick him on people!**

**Me: Just shut up so I can finish the fucking Author's Note!**

**Katie: Geesh...**

**ANYWAY, the point of this overly long note is I'm super duper sorry! I can't say this won't happen again-because I'm just reliably stupid like that-but I'll try to keep times like these far and few between!**

**R&R, if you want. If not, whatever...it's not like I obsessively wait for reviews or anything...*sarcasm*  
><strong>

The few weeks after that day on the beach were monotone and very boring. Dean had pulled himself together and gotten back on his feet. Rita had gotten every trace of her out of his house-I refused to believe that bitch ever owned an inch of that place-and then disappeared just like I'd wanted. I'd decided to keep our little...exchange between the two of us.

Jacob had been there for me the entire time. And with each passing day I'd spent with him, I realized that he was wonderful. He was funny and made me laugh constantly, especially when I was mad or unhappy. He was caring, always wanting to know how I was doing and if he could help me in any way at all. And he was just all around the most amazing person I'd met in my entire life.

So, like I said, he was wonderful. Too wonderful.

I didn't deserve him at all.

At school, with graduation and senior prom approaching, Maria had gone into a frenzy of planning. Her date was her on and off again boyfriend Austin, who wasn't too bad, but was a little too experienced in every way that you're probably thinking of right now. Then again, most of these experiences were with Maria.

I would know. I got the graphic details I tried to block out afterwards.

And now, Maria was spending every waking moment trying to convince me that prom was some key moment in your life. I mean, come on, it's a fucking dance!

"It's a fucking dance, Maria! Get over it!" I snapped as we walked towards the parking lot. "I'm not in the mood for more bullshit reasons as to why prom is so important."

Maria flipped her ponytail indignantly, trying to express how bristled she was by my attitude. "All I was going to ask was if you wanted to come dress shopping with me! I need my best friend's opinion on what I'm going to wow Austin with."

A small, tiny, micro stab of guilt hit me and I sighed, shaking my head. Damn her, she knew just how to push my buttons and get what she wants. "I'm sorry, OK? It's just I'm getting frustrated with myself. I keep wondering whether or not it was a good decision to go to Sarah Lawerence when it's across the country. I don't want to leave Mom and Dean alone and I know that if I go, we'll hardly ever talk, even if we say we will stay in touch."

She shrugged. "Here's your solution: Go to Sarah Lawerence and if you think that transfering to UW is a good idea after a semister, go for it."

I gasped, slapping my forehead. Why hadn't I thought of that? I gave her a tight, bone-crushing hug. "Have I told you you're a genius lately?" I asked, deciding I knew there was I reason I kept her around besides amusement.

We parted as soon as Austin waved her over towards his pick up truck. And just as I was heading for the Green Bomb, he stepped out from behind a van. Mark. I tried to smoothly dodge him, keep my steady pace towards my car. But he wasn't having any of that. He grabbed my elbow and spun me around to face him.

"How's life treatin' ya, hot stuff?" he leered, a lazy smirk on his face. I rolled my eyes and tried not to sneer just at the sight of him.

"Good, until now. So why don't you do us both a favor and go fuck one of the brainless bimbos of the pep squad and I'll go home." I snapped back.

His grin widened. "I always liked your fiesty side," he murmured, taking a step closer, a hand creeping up to grip my waist. I smacked his hand away and took a few steps back.

"Piss off, asshole, and if you come near me again, I won't hesitate to take a knife to your vertiually nonexistant dick." I hissed venomously and turned, speed walking to my car. I was so furious and ready to snap at the next person who dared look my way, that I didn't notice someone standing at the Green Bomb...

...Until I ran square into them. A familiar husky chuckle rang in my ears as warm hands steadied me. My eyes flashed open and met dark ones. And all the frustration I felt melted away and I was just left as this puddle of myself. Yeah, he had that effect on me.

Jacob pushed the hair out of my eyes and tucked it behind my ear, the small gesture making my heart flutter happily. I blushed and glanced down at my feet. I normally wasn't like this. Why did only he have this effect on me?

"Easy, tiger," Jacob teased, giving me a perfect smile. "Where's the fire?"

Dark thoughts about attacking and maiming Mark filled my mind. "In the deep, dark pit in hell that's being prepared for Mark," I replied, a murderous edge to my voice. Jacob's face darkened and he glared at what I assumed was Mark off in the distance. As if on instinct, he slipped a protective arm around my waist and his stiff stance slackened.

"Is he bothering you again?" He asked, his tone ominous and a million different threats lining each word.

I sighed. "I just ran into him today. The usual, he hit on me and I threatened to remove his genitals with a Swiss army knife."

He seemed less tense knowing it'd only been today, but his body began to shake slightly as he continued to glare out past me. I turned and saw Mark watching me with a smirk and his eyes travelling up and down my body repeatedly, exaggeratedly. He was doing it just to mess with Jacob.

I placed my hand on his cheek and the tremors stopped immediately. "Hey, look at me." Jacob looked down at me with an unfathomable expression. "He's just messing with your head. Mark's just too insecure to go one day without getting an ego boost from bugging someone." When his eyes flashed back behind me, I gripped his face in my hands and brought his face down to mine, pressing our mouths together.

When we pulled apart, he was smiling at me goofily. In my peripheral vision, I saw a sulking figure leave the lot and a smile pulled at the edge of my lips. Without speaking, I got into the passenger side and Jacob in the driver's side. He got a kick out of driving me around and I have no clue why.

It was that rare time in Forks where you wouldn't freeze to death if you rolled the windows down while in the car. So, I cranked them all down and turned the radio up to full blast. The song "Love in an Elevator" by Aerosmith was playing. I hummed along to the beginning, loving the way Steven Tyler sounded when he hummed along with the guitar chords. I kept just nodding my head in time as the first verse went by, unsure what the lyrics were.

Then I sang along with the chorus.

"Love in an elevator. Livin' it up when I'm goin' down. Love in an elevator. Lovin' it up till I hit the ground," I sang softly. As soon as I was done, I noticed Jacob staring at me, fighting to hide a smirk.

I raised an eyebrow, silently asking what was so amusing.

"It's interesting that those lyrics are the only ones you know..." he trailed off, letting me finish the thought.

I snorted, rolling my eyes and smacking his shoulder. "Just for that, I will make sure you never get any action in an elevator, from me." I added the last part a little more softly. As much as I hated to admit it, this wasn't going to last. No matter how much I loved Jacob-Whoa, whoa, back it up! I'd like to correct that sentence; no matter how much I really liked Jacob, he would leave me.

I'd come to accept a long time ago that I was the girl guys settle for. Guys who would go for the supermodel if they could land her. And since they can't, they go for girls like me instead. Sadly, Jacob isn't one of those guys. He's the type who gets the supermodel and leaves me in the dust. The only reason he'd even glanced my way was because he probably doubted his ability to land said supermodel.

Jacob didn't notice the change in my mood and rolled his eyes at my threat. We pulled into the driveway and he got out with me, carrying my bag for me. I knew for a fact that Mom wasn't home, the only reason I was letting Jacob inside. She wasn't allowed anywhere near him yet. And I wanted to keep that going for as long as possible.

Meeting the parents officially-parent, in this case-meant attachment. And attachment would just set me up for more heartbreak than I could afford. He could leave and never look back, my presence gone from his thoughts forever, but I knew that if things went on for too long, he'd never leave me. In my mind, he'd always be there. Taunting me about the fact I lost someone as great as him.

The house was hauntingly silent, the lack of Dean and Mom making it eerily quiet throughout the place. Jacob gently placed my backpack in a chair at the dining room table and turned to give me a resigned look.

"I'd stay, but I have work in about ten minutes." He leaned in to peck my cheek. "I'll call you if I don't get off too late." With that, he walked out the door, leaving me standing there with a vacant expression.

Even now, I still didn't understand Jacob's work hours. He worked at an auto shop, why would his hours be so weird? One time, he called me at two in the morning, saying he'd just gotten off from work and wanted to make sure I was OK. He'd started his day at the shop around seven that morning! What the fuck, right?

But I didn't question it. Hell if I knew about auto shop hours. Also, everyone he hung out with was like him. Muscular and tan and tall. It wasn't just Seth, the only friend I'd actually spoken to. And they were all mysterious about everything. I'd ask him where he was last night, just as a conversation starter, and he would get all nervous, avoid answering, and change the subject.

However, with all these mysterious factors in our relationship, I still wanted to be around him. Still wanted to pretend that this relationship would last. Hoping that the fantasy wouldn't encourage an attachment.

When my homework was done, I grabbed a bottle of water and plopped down on the couch, flipping on the TV. I needed a distraction or I'd depress myself to death. I'd become enthralled with the TV show The Golden Girls, eating up every bit of it. The show was hilarious and I loved every minute of it. The episode I'd turned on was the one where Blanche is left in charge of taking care of Sophia while Dorothy is on a romantic cruise and things go horribly wrong. Meanwhile, Rose's boyfriend is being cheap.

Around the time Rose is cheating on her boyfriend, going out to dinner with someone else, Mom marched into the house, slamming the door behind her as she went. She didn't speak to me, just let out an angry huff of air and then charged into her room, slamming that door, too.

Sighing tiredly, I got up and went to her room, knocking on the door softly. "Mom?" I asked quietly.

I heard a few sniffles on the other side of the door, followed by a hoarse, "What?"

"Is everything alright?"

"Fine."

"Liar."

"Nosy."

"Coward."

"Dictator of this house."

"And don't you forget it."

Around the time she accused me of being a dictator, I heard the handle on the door get unlocked and she creaked the door open just slightly. Barely enough to let me see anything, but it wouldn't matter because the lights were off and the blinds were drawn, making the room go dark.

I pushed the door open a little more, testing the waters. She didn't shove it closed or yell at me, so I continued until I was fully in the room. My eyes slowly adjusted and I took in a curled up form on the bed. My foosteps were silenced by the carpet and Mom didn't look up when I tapped her shoulder, just rolled over to the other side.

"Come on, Mom, at least tell me what's wrong."

She sighed and scooted over, letting me crawl in next to her. We faced each other on our sides and I waited for an explanation. She wiped what appeared to be tears off her face and sniffled a few times.

"Your father is the most vile, disgusting, unworthy, loathsome, repugnant creature to ever walk the earth!" She hissed vehemantly.

I sighed. "What did he do this time?"

She snorted. "Demanded that I have the guest room ready because he was coming to see you ASAP. He'll be here in two days and I'll be ready." Her voice was darkened with the hatred I knew she felt for him.

"As much as I'd enjoy seeing you beat him to death with a frying pan, you'd go to jail. And then he'd be bothering me constantly, whining about the horror you put him through when your frying pan of death attacked him." I told her, smiling softly. She grinned back and placed a cold, bony hand on my cheek, rubbing it with her thumb.

Mom finally spoke after a moment. "Why don't you tell me what's bothering you and I'll stay away from frying pans while he's here?"

I groaned, looking away from her and slipping out of her grip. I hated how she could do this. See right through every fucking façade I'd put up and know exactly how I was feeling. See into my soul, basically.

"Come on, cupcake! Confess!" She urged dramatically. I didn't want to admit my fears, to be honest. The doubts I had about my future and where I was heading. It wasn't just Jacob that had my stomach all in knots-although he was a big part of it.

Sitting up slowly, I rubbed my face with my hands. "I'm just trying to deal with things way beyond my maturity level. And it's kind of hard not to want to randomly start singing some Air Supply song to move on."

Mom sighed, and I could feel her staring at me. Not wanting to get into some talk about my emotions, or whatever the hell she was planning, I got up from her bed, murmured something about homework, and left to go hide in my room.

She was smart and didn't follow me.

Over the last few weeks, I'd confided in Jacob a little too much. At first, it'd just been getting to know each other. You know, the usual crap. What's your favorite color? Embarrassing moments? Past relationships? Funny stories? But as the questions got more personal, I just started giving up information freely. But the one thing that I'd refused to give up information on was my father. Whenever Jacob asked, I would change the subject or distract him with something else. And even though he detected the change almost every time, he said nothing.

But today, the day before my dad invaded my life again, I was going to tell him. Explain the failure that was my parents' marriage. The windows of the Green Bomb were rolled down and the wind ruffled my hair, sometimes blowing strands into my mouth while I sang along with the radio (during his depressed state Dean decided to put in the new one). It was one of those rare, cloudless days in Forks and La Push. During the last few weeks, I'd been to Jacob's house a few times and that's where I was heading now. Nothing serious. I hadn't met his dad or the group of guys he ran around with, but not because he hadn't wanted it. I'd insisted that we take things slow, a way of protecting myself from the inevitable break up that was taunting me from the horizon.

When a familiar red house came into view, I slowed to a stop and trekked towards the front door. My hand knocked softly and it wasn't Jacob who opened the door. It was his father. Billy Black had been described to me by his son, but it had been fairly plain. He'd mentioned the long hair and wheel chair and his state of "elderliness", as Jacob had put it. Billy looked so wise as he stared up at me with those dark eyes that Jacob had inherited.

My face heated up with a blush as I ran a hand through my hair awkwardly. "I-I'm Katie?" I was so nervous it came out as a question. "I'm here to see Jacob."

Billy smiled slightly and wheeled backwards while holding open the door for me to come inside. I did so while Billy responded, "Jacob isn't here yet. He should be back in a few minutes, though. Feel free to make yourself comfortable."

I nodded, giving him a small smile and sat down on the couch in the living room, looking around. Not sure if Jacob had told his father about me coming over before now, I pretended to examine the place. Look at the familiar walls and decor with curious eyes.

"He talks about you constantly, you know," Billy told me as he rolled next to the couch, eyes locked on the television as he spoke. I blushed furiously, not sure what to say at first. This was one of those parent-embarrassing-their-child-in-front-of-child's-spouse-for-fun moments. A.K.A, an extremely awkward moment for me, the spouse.

"Um..."

He chuckled. "I don't even think he does it on purpose. It's just a subconcious act for him."

I was about to respond, dismiss his words by saying he was exaggerating, when the front door burst open and Jacob came strutting inside with two unknown guys following him. All three in cut-off, jean shorts and no shirts. All muscled and tanned. But only one muscled and tanned body had my eyes glued to them.

"Hey we just got back from-" Jacob cut himself off when he saw me. His eyes widened and then darted around the room, refusing to meet my gaze. He shifted uncomfortably, not willing to acknowledge my presence. At first, I was confused by the sudden mood change.

But then I understood. My heart plummeted through my chest, crashing into my stomach, making me nauseous. I'd totally misunderstood our relationship. I wasn't the girl you bring home and show off to your parents and friends. I was the secret, hush-hush girl who would eventually be forgotten when the guy found a girl who was the type you show off. My first instinct was to run away, but I couldn't. Too many people.

So, I cleared my throat and gave Jacob a shaky half smile. "Hey," I murmured quietly.

Still kind of stunned, he replied, "Hi." I glanced down at my hands and stood up. My actions were a little faster than necessary, but I wanted to leave. Now.

"I think I'll be going now." I said, not even bothering to say anything else as I rushed down the steps and to my car. I was in the Green Bomb and starting it when Jacob came sprinting out of the house, each step three times the size of mine when I leaped like a fucking ballerina. I rushed to get the car going, but didn't do it fast enough because, before I could even blink, Jacob already had my door wide open.

"Where are you going?" Jacob asked. "Why would you come to see me just to run off?"

I smoothed my face of any emotion. "I was going to ask you something, but...I found out my answer before you got home. I was about to leave when you got back." I sighed. "Don't worry. I'll try not to do that again."

"OK, I guess." He cleared his throat. "Are you sure you don't want to come inside and hang out?"

His words broke my heart. Because they meant he was trying to turn me into that girl he wanted. The one he deserved. I would never be that girl. It didn't matter if I got a complete makeover, I'd still be plain old Katie. Tears burned my eyes, the realization of my relationship with Jacob and my father's approaching arrival too much to deal with at once. There was a lump in my throat and it was making it difficult to breathe, let alone speak.

So, I just shook my head and jerked the car door shut before quickly driving away. I needed to be alone and blow off some steam. And that thought made an exact location pop into my mind.  
>_<p> 


	8. Chapter 8

First Beach was more crowded than usual, on account of the nice weather. I dragged my depressed, moping self off to a secluded area that the cliffs hung overhead. I'd always considered cliff diving. The act seemed spontaneous and fun. But I'd never gotten around to it. Busy and just too much of a chicken shit to go through with it.

Today, though...today was different. I felt a rush of adrenaline and excitement. It was that feeling, that need to do something crazy, that convinced me to go through with it. Before it'd been an insane whim that I'd never fulfill. Now, the need to do it was eating my alive.  
>The hike up there took longer than it should've. Maybe because, while I don't look unfit, my physical activity capasity is very low. I didn't stop very much, but my pace was slow. And for those of you judging, not all of us have the energy hike up to the top of cliffs every day.<p>

Get over it.

Anyway, when I did break through the trees that had been an enemy of mine the entire climb, that rush of adrenaline wore off for a small moment. But the moment was long enough to have me wondering for a second what the hell I was thinking. I could die! But, when the rush filled me again, I reasoned with myself that no one had died from a cliff diving incident here and people had been doing it for a while now. (That last part made an immature part of me reply, "That's what she said.")

The water was greyish blue and ferocious. They crashed against the cliffs like they were the predator and the land mass it's prey. It's swift, but fluid, movements had me mystified. Like those snake charmers in India. The sound of the waves crashing was soft and steady, the movements synchronized and-when distrubed-always fell back into a rhythm no matter what.

Quickly, I snapped myself out of my dazed trance and forced myself to focus on the task at hand. I yanked off my jacket and shoes, but didn't bother with anything else. It was still cold and diving in my underwear didn't feel too smart when the wind started to blow for a moment, leaving me chilled when it stopped.

I glanced back down at the mysterious waters again. Who knows what lay beneath, some inner monologue murmured. I gulped in a few deep breaths of fresh air and tried to stay as calm as possible. Let the craziness of this idea take over, I told myself. That's all you have to do. Don't think. Just...do.

So I did.

I jumped.

The first thought that hit me when I jumped was: HOLY CRAP I JUST JUMPED OFF A FUCKING CLIFF!

Then: THIS IS SO AWESOME!

When my body collided with the water, it knocked the air out of me. Luckily, I bobbed up fairly quickly. I wiped the water from my eyes and glanced around me, a slow smile spreading across my face as I realized I'd made it. Then, when I looked up at where I'd just jumped from, I remembered that I'd have to go back up there to get my shoes and jacket.

"Well, fuck."

That was the last thing I got out before a wave tumbled over me and knocked me down. I couldn't see anything when I cracked my eyes open to direct myself. My eyes couldn't adjust to being underwater, so I was screwed. I tried sticking my hands out to navigate, but was met with nothing. No debris, no rock, no cliff. Nothing...

...Until another wave knocked me backwards and underwater again. This time, my entire body was flung into the cliffs and my body was flinching and twisting and convulsing as shots of pain racked my body. I tried to swim, but it hurt to move so much that my haze of pain kept me from knowing whether or not I was actually going anywhere while my legs flailed.

The more time I spent underwater, being knocked around by the tide and my body as limp as a rag doll, the hazier the world seemed. I didn't feel pain anymore. I barely felt anything. My eyes were cracked open as I tried to find an escape. My lungs were in desperate need of air, but I couldn't move. It felt like my chest was ready to collapse within me.

Darkness was edging into my vision. Slowly swallowing me whole. And the last thing I remember thinking before everything went black was: So this is what dying feels like...

**V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V**

_I'm dead._

That was the first thing I thought when I wasn't enveloped in darkness. I'd convinced myself that I was dead and no one would know that I was gone until some random jogger-because they always are the ones who find them on the news-would find my body in the water or thrown onto the shores of First Beach.

But, then I heard voices.

"-and what are we supposed to say when she wakes up?" Demanded a beautiful, but upset, female voice.

Someone cleared their throat and murmured in a deep, velvety voice, "She's waking up."

The statement confused me, so I tried to open my eyes. Figure out where the hell I was. Hopefully not in hell. Just as I thought that, someone chuckled. Weird...

Anyway, when I tried to crack my eyes open, it felt as if they were glued shut. The task of opening them seemed impossible. So, I tried to speak, and opening my mouth was equally difficult. My mouth was a dry barren wasteland and my throat felt like it was on fire. I couldn't feel anything other than my face, which was really weird. I amused myself with considering that I was some sort of zombie that came to life in the grave. Though, the part about digging myself out didn't sound very fun.

Then, suddenly, it was like this huge weight had been lifted on me. As a reflex response, now that I felt no obsticle holding me back, my eyes flashed open. I regretted it immediately, though. Everything around me was too bright, too white. My eyes snapped shut again and clenched as they tried to get over the shock of the light.

"Katie?" A professional, smooth voice asked. "Katie, can you hear me?"

I didn't speak, just nodded.

"Can you open your eyes for me? Or does it hurt too much?"

I coughed and wheezed a little, my throat still raw and strained, but I opened my eyes again. It was bright at first, but then the light began to dull and I could make out shapes and figures surrounding me. As my eyes adjusted, I was faced with a group of the most beautiful people I'd seen in my life. They were inhumanly good-looking, but I ignored the need to examine every aspect of them and tried to figure out how the hell I ended up here-wherever here was.

Last I remembered, I'd gone cliff diving. And then, I was drowning in the water. So how did I go from drowning there to here in this bedroom. The room was decorated beautifully and I felt like I was tainting it with my presence. The walls were painted a goldish color and the decorating looked similiar to something from a fairytale. I was laying in a four-post bed and the sheets were red and the comforter was satin with gold trim. The room had mahogany floors with a plush rug covering most of the floor space and a small couch off in the corner.  
>Well, at least I knew one thing. I wasn't in hell.<p>

My eyes flashed from the room back to the people. There was a girl, a boy, and a man. I say it like that because the guy with the blond hair seemed older than them, wiser. Fatherly, almost. The boy was watching me with a curious and careful expression, as if waiting for me to do or say something. But neither of them seemed as intimidating as the girl. She was the epitome of beauty with long golden hair and the kind of face women killed for and plastic surgeons tried to replicate. But she was glaring at me. Her golden eyes-an odd eye color all three shared-were fiery and frightening. I decided I'd just pretend she wasn't there because, frankly, she was making me really uncomfortable.

I watched as the boy leaned over to the girl and murmured something quickly and softly. She huffed indignantly, shot me one last glare, and then marched out the door. My body sagged with relief.

"Katie?" The man asked. I turned and raised an eyebrow.

"H-How do you...know my name?" I asked quietly, my voice a little choked.

He smiled. "Your wallet was in your back pocket with your driver's liscense and ID in it." He explained smoothly. I felt the need to slap myself on the forehead. I remember to take off my shoes and jacket, thing that would've most definitely survived the jump, and I forget the fucking wallet? Really?

I let out a snort at my idiocy and the boy's expression seemed minutely lighter while the man looked confused.

"I'm Dr. Carlisle Cullen," the man continued. "And this is my son, Edward."

I nodded. Edward? Carlisle? Interesting name choices...I thought, but shrugged it off. Maybe they had a thing for old names or something. Who knows. Anyway, I decided to focus on the questions lingering in my mind.

So, I blurted out the first one that came to mind.

"How did I end up here?" I asked.

They exchanged a look. "My son's wife, Bella, was out at First Beach when she saw you jump. Most people don't jump from that height and she came to make sure you were alright in time to stop you from drowning."

The name clicked. Bella Swan-Cullen, now, I guess. Chief Swan's daughter. I remembered their being some rumor going around that the wedding was because Edward got her knocked up, but I hadn't believed a word of it, even then. If she'd gotten knocked up, Edward would've been dead by now. While I'd only had one run in with Chief Swan, he was still a fairly intimidating guy and probably the overprotective type of father.

In a nutshell, he was _my_ father's polar opposite.

I nodded and coughed a little bit before I got back to questioning them. "Why am I here?" I glanced around and added, "And where is here, exactly?"

Carlisle gave me a soft smile. "Bella panicked. She brought you to my home because she figured that I'd be able to help you. Calling 9-1-1 or bringing you to the hospital didn't occur to her until after you'd been taken care of here."

The explanation seemed too convenient. Almost fabricated. But the logical part of my brain said that it was a sensible and very reliable explanation. So, I shook off my doubts and nodded. "OK..." I trailed off as I noticed I wasn't in the clothes I'd worn when I jumped.  
>But the thought was lost when I remembered why I'd jumped. Because I was upset. Because of Jacob. And, just like that, I was stuck in this miserable place. A place where all I could feel was the searing heartbreak.<p>

_You'd think that you would've learned_, a sardonic voice in the back of my mind hissed. _You witnessed your mother get abandoned. Saw what it did to her and yet, you still fell. You're just as foolish as she was. And now you'll suffer too. A well deserved pain, in my opinion. For letting yourself think you could ever keep him._

"Are you alright?" The question brought me out of my depressed haze.

Moisture covered my cheeks and I wiped it away desperately. I hadn't even known I was crying. "F-Fine," I stammered and glanced between the two of them nervously. "Not that I don't appreciate the hospitality, but I should probably head home."

Carlisle sighed. "I might need you to stay here for a little while to make sure you're alright." He flashed me a charming smile. "Do you think you could just call your family and let them know you're fine, for now? Until I'm certain that you're fully healed?"

Dazed, I blinked a few times before nodding and getting up from the bed. As soon as I stood up on the fluffy rug, my knees buckled and I toppled downward. Luckily, Edward caught me and righted me. Carlisle was chuckling and I fought back the urge to stick my tongue out at him like a child.

"Exactly what I was talking about," he said before going into doctor mode. "Do you feel any pain? Shortness of breath? Anxiety? Light-headed?" The questions were shot off simultaniously and it made me light headed as I tried to think of the answers.

"No to all, I think. I'm fine, really. Just a little..." I thought about the right word, "...unstable?" _Both physically and mentally_, I thought.

The two Cullen men led me downstairs, babying me the entire way. Carlisle was just itching for an excuse to say I was physically handicapped at the moment. It was rather frustrating actually. It didn't help that I'd completely forgotten about the fact that Carlisle, and Edward, had a family. A family that was most definitely inconvenienced by my being here, yet Carlisle insisted on keeping me there. After I'd gotten over that period of time where, you know, my knees buckled every time I tried to take a step anywhere, I thought that meant I could go home. But hell no. I was told to sit in their living room while Carlisle went to get more stuff to examine me with.

As I was sitting in the lavishly decorated living room, waiting for Dr. McDreamy to look me over and then release me, the girl I recognized to be Bella entered with a stranger trailing behind her, both smiling at me gently.

I'd seen Bella from afar since we went to the same high school. While she'd captivated the entire population of Forks High School, she was a speck on the monitor for me. I'd been dealing with...other things. More distracting things. Like trying to figure out a way to get away with blowing my step-mother and idiotic father off the face of the earth, I thought bitterly. She looked the same from what I remembered, which wasn't much considering she was two years older than me and hardly crossed my path, but like the rest of the Cullens, she was gorgeous. Unfairly so.

The woman with her introduced herself as Esme Cullen, Carlisle's wife. Her hair was the color of caramel and just as smooth. She was petite and very beautiful. The way she moved and spoke and just...lived screamed motherly. She was kind and generous, offering me something to eat or drink while I was there. Asking if I was comfortable or if I needed anything for pain. She was so doting and comforting. Nothing like my mother, who was a whirlwind of chaos driven by a teenager mindset even though she was definitely not a teenager.

The two of them sat with me in the living room and kept me company.

"So, are you still at Forks High School?" Esme asked sweetly. I sighed.

"Just about to graduate, actually," I murmured.

Her eyes lit up. "So, college next, huh?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I, um, got accepted into Sarah Lawrence on a two year scholarship." I said, knowing that would be the next question out of her mouth. I wasn't adding the last part to show off, just stating a fact. I wasn't shy about the scholarship, but I didn't shove it in people's faces either. The scholarship helped pay the tuition and that eased my worries-my mom was never worried, though, who had somehow roped my dad into paying for college.

Esme smiled gently. "That's wonderful," she said sincerely. "Edward's siblings are finishing their first and second years of college. However, they decided to spend the weekend visiting," she informed me, explaining the presence of the other girl, the scarily pretty one who acted like she wanted to hack my head off.

I didn't ask about Edward or Bella, though. They probably just wanted to enjoy married life or something. Sit back and relax before they had to start worrying about college and all that wonderful stuff.

Bella was fairly quiet during the conversation. Only nodding in agreement or smiling when necessary. The occasional sentence here and there. She seemed tense, her posture extremely stiff and hands clamped at her sides. Before the conversation continued further, the front door burst open.

My head whipped around and I was faced with the last person I wanted to see.

Jacob.

Immediately, I tried to think of an escape route. Some way to avoid confrentation. Maybe if I just slipped away from his life gradually, I wouldn't have to deal with the heartbreak head on. But apparently fate had other plans.

His eyes were wide and filled with worry. "Are you alright? What happened?" Jacob asked frantically, examining every inch of me to make sure I was alright. Tears burned my eyes, but I fought to stay strong. Stay as stoic as possible.

"I-I went cliff diving and-"

"Cliff diving?" Jacob interrupted, shaking with fury. "What the hell were you doing, cliff diving? Do you know how dangerous that is? How could you be so stupid! Do you have a death wish or something?" I flinched at the ferocity of his words and stood. I wanted to leave now. Because that's what I do in these types of situations. I run like hell.

"Mrs. Cullen? I think it'd be best if I go home. I'm fine now and I'm sorry to rush out like this." I apologized, completely ignoring the huffing and puffing boy beside me. My face was most likely void of any emotion, but that was what I was going for. Less emotion, less pain.  
>Esme's eyes flitted to Jacob, but she nodded reluctantly. I grabbed my now dry wallet and started towards the front door, but Jacob blocked my way.<p>

"Answer me, goddamn it!" He hissed. I sighed and a tear slipped down my cheek.

"You want the truth?" I asked quietly.

Now that I was noticably crying, Jacob's stance was less threatening. Softer and more cautious. "Yes," he whispered, afraid that yelling again might break me.

My eyes snapped to his. My ice blue ones trying to convey to him how much hurt I was feeling right now. "Part of me did have a death wish. And the rest of me just hurt too much to argue. So I jumped."

"Why?" Jacob asked quietly, desperately. "What happened?"

I sniffled, trying to control the tears, but they just kept coming. I could plug up the Nile faster than I could get myself to stop crying. "Just...a lot has been fucking up my head lately. My dad's coming tomorrow and-and I wanted to talk to you about it, but..." I took in a shaky breath and failed miserably at holding in the traitor tears. "But I realized that we weren't going to work out. And before you try to correct me or whatever it is you're going to say to make me change my mind, don't. Because there's no way this is hurting you more than it's hurting me. I just...I can't be that girl anymore. I can't be the girl you're with because she's there. Because you don't see anyone else on the horizon yet.

"And while you were just living in the moment, completely carefree, I fell in love with you. I loved you so much that it frightens me, quite frankly. But you know what sucks about that statement? I'm forcing it to be past tense. As in, I can't love you anymore. So, this whole possibly psychotic rant is basically me breaking up with you."

My world was crumbling around me. It felt like everything was just so broken. I was busted into a million tiny pieces that would never be able to be put back together again. Even if I tried, there would still be gaps. Things missing.

I was being thrown off another cliff and into a sea of pain and nothingness as I marched out of the Cullens' house and away from Jacob. He just stood there as I left. He let me go. Because he knew I was right. We weren't going anywhere. We never would. And we couldn't live like that-I couldn't live like that. It was unhealthy.

At least, that's what I kept telling myself as I headed home.

**A/N: Whoa! Switched it up on you now, didn't I? I figured that when you reach the bottom, I don't have to worry about giving things away about this chapter in the author's note. Yeah, so, to answer any questions or WTF? thoughts you might be having, Katie has a very low self esteem. She's kind of lowered herself to the level of scum, believing that she truly does not deserve someone as "wonderful" as Jacob. And since she doesn't want to experience the heartbreak she remembers her mother going through, she distances herself from Jacob, even though she's, like, possibly in love with him...**

**Also, to answer a couple reviewer questions, this takes place after BD. Jacob's like nineteen or twenty. And Renesmee was never born. She would just complicate this story too much because, when I tried to incorporate her, I kept having all these questions bothering me. (i.e. Would the Cullens still have fought the wolves if Jacob didn't imprint?) It was just too...hard. Anyway, the second question was if Katie will meet the wolves soon. Formally, I guess is what they mean.**

**To answer that, yes, she will. Just, it'll be...complicated. But with Katie, practically everything is.**

**Plus, I'm thinking about having Katie's mom get involved with a certain someone. What do you think about that? And who do you think I'm considering? A big cyber hug for whoever can guess! **

**So...yeah! That's about it! I'll save the R&R crap because I've taken up enough of your time.**

**- HBTC**


	9. Chapter 9

An unfamiliar car was parked outside when I got home around dusk. As soon as I stepped inside, I wanted to leave. I could hear my mother yelling at someone-my father. And he yelled right back. Arguing about what was best for me and the wake of problems that their marriage and time spent together had left blaringly obvious. Mom spat out that he was a greedy bastard and he replied she was a pain in the ass.

I sighed and started out the door when I heard Dad ask, "Katie?" That meant a no on the escape plan. I didn't even try to act happy. Just turned to face him with a blank expression.

"No, it's the Queen of England." I muttered sarcastically. He just smiled and pulled me into a hug, acting like he hadn't been ready to duke it out with Mom two seconds ago.

"Always such a kidder," he murmured affectionately, pinching my cheek like some great aunt would. I moved away from him and sighed.

"I'm going to bed. See you in the morning."

I heard argues and pleas of me to hang out for a little while as I went to my room. But they never really registered. I was still drowning in my self-pity and pain. I wanted to just allow myself to wallow for once-to actually feel something instead of pushing it aside. I just wished that what I felt was happiness and love, not misery and despair.

The next morning I was awoken by the sound of yelling. It was Sunday, so it was rare for me to be up before eight willingly. I thought about breaking up the fight, but vetoed for a shower instead. I was in desperate need of one, judging by the greasy quality of my hair as I scratched my head.

Clean and dressed, the fight was still going on. But I froze when I heard my name involved in the fight.

"-Katie will never agree to this!" Mom exclaimed.

"How do you know? She loves visiting, and she and Ashley could use some bonding time." Dad argued.

She scoffed loudly, as I would have had I not been spying. "Is that why she nicknamed your little wifey Gurtie McFake-Boobs? What exactly does Katie mean when she refers to the yearly visit to the mansion as 'her reminder that Hell is, in fact, real?'"  
>There was an eery pause before Dad roared, "That is not true! Stop putting words in our daughter's mouth out of spite and-and jealousy!"<p>

"Jealousy? Leroy, you motherfucking asshole, I wouldn't want to touch you or your filthy money with a ten foot pole. Katie just happens to have the same sentiment, only your wife is included on that list." She laughed hysterically. "Quite frankly, I'm grateful that Ashley decided to pick up your sorry ass because now I don't have to deal with you!"

I could picture the look of indignance as my mother knocked Dad down a peg. But then he said something I didn't expect.

"She's spending the summer with me and that's final."

I knew Mom would be quick to argue, but I was faster. I ran down the stairs and bounded in front of him, my footsteps echoing through the house. Dad looked startled, his eyebrows shot up in surprise. He opened his mouth to say something, but I stopped him.

"Do you think you can just march in here and dictate my life? It's mine! And there is no way in hell that I will ever willingly spend the summer with you and the wicked witch of the west." I stated, crossing my arms over my chest to express that I was unyielding on this matter.

He sighed tiredly. "Katie, just listen-"

"No, you listen! You abandoned me, Dean, and Mom for a stripper! And then you just waltz in here all the time to screw up my life and then waltz back out. You don't care about me at all! It's just about you and your fucking image. No one likes the rich business CEO who ignores his poor little girl," I spat, fuming. "But guess what, Daddy"-I spat the word out like it was the most vile thing I'd ever put in my mouth-"I'm not a little girl anymore! And you need to get it through your thick skull that I am putting my foot down about this. I refuse to be pushed around anymore!"

My voice had risen to where I was practically yelling in his face. At first, he didn't react. He just stood there, his mud colored eyes staring off into space and his expression blank. Finally, he looked down at me and cleared his throat, always willing to keep up the calm façade, and said, "I can see that you're under a lot of stress at the moment. Clearly not in a state where you should be making important decisions. I'll be leaving around noon to catch a flight to Seattle. I have some business and will see you again in time for your graduation." He kissed my forehead as if to prove a point and I flinched away from his touch. "Meanwhile, before I leave, I'm going to go get some breakfast."

I didn't bother arguing with him that I was definitely capable of making my own decisions-now and always-but his reluctant offer to not press the issue right now was too tempting. I really didn't want to have to deal with him right now. Mom sighed with relief when we heard the front door slam shut and his car start up outside. She began scuttling around the kitchen and getting out stuff for breakfast; cereal, milk, juice, etc. And then the issue of my ignorant father were forgotten.

"So, I met someone," Mom said conversationally.

I smiled. "That's nice, Mom, but I'd rather not get the cheap romance novel description of him. Keep it PG, m'kay?"

She huffed dramatically before beaming at me. "See, that's why I wanted to mention him. Usually you meet my men"-that was how we referred to the men she'd had sexual encounters with-"through very awkward situations, but this guy..." Mom cut off to sigh like some lovesick teenager. "He's...he's different. In the best way possible."

That was when I really noticed how different my mother was then just yesterday. She was beaming, practically glowing with happiness. That sounds weird, but it was true. She just seemed so bright and beautiful in that moment, shining like a star, as cheesy as that sounds. And if she was happy, so was I. While she enjoyed the company of her men, they never truly made her happy. She never loved them. Mom bounced from man to man, but I had a feeling that was about to change.

"So," I said. "What's his name?"  
>She sighed and looked at her feet. "Don't judge me for this, but I'm not going to tell you. I want to make sure that this is going somewhere before I dish out. That way, if it doesn't work out, I won't have to worry about someone slipping up and mentioning him, making me miserable." While her logic was edging towards being neurotic, I didn't question it. Just nodded and started to pour myself some orange juice.<p>

Just as we were about to sit down to eat breakfast, there was a loud, steady knock at the door. I sighed, knowing it was probably Dad come back to haunt me some more. I could feel my annoyance from before building up within me and I jerked the front door open violently.  
>"You can take that damn offer, Daddy, and shove it up your-" I cut myself off with a squeak.<p>

Dark eyes stared back at me, their depths clouded with too many emotions to tell which one was which. They let out a breathy chuckle at my rant and I blushed furiously, something I never do. Jacob shuffled nervously on the porch, not really sure what to say.  
>Quickly, I stepped out on the porch with him and shut the front door behind me. I tried to smile at him but it came out as a grimace. "Hey..." I murmured quietly. "Sorry about before...I was expecting someone else..."<p>

His laugh rang in my ears, the sound making my heart flutter with excitement. But I forced myself to stay calm. Tried to make myself remember why I'd hurt myself so much by breaking up with him, but having Jacob standing before me in the flesh made all those reasons disappear.

"Yeah, I figured," Jacob said lightly, his eyes sparkling with humor.

I glanced around awkwardly. "Um...is there a reason you came here, Jacob? Not that I don't appreciate the visit or whatever, I just..." I cleared my throat, "...wasn't expecting it."

He nodded as he remembered and stepped aside, revealing the Green Bomb in perfect condition. I squealed happily and fought back the urge to throw my arms around Jacob.

"Thank you! I totally forgot that I'd left my car there!" I exclaimed, running to examine my baby more closely. Not a single scratch. It was in the perfect condition I'd left it in. Then I noticed my shoes and jacket in the front seat. He'd gone searching for that crap too? I didn't deserve his help. Anyone would agree with that statement.

Not really sure what to say, there was a long, awkward pause. I wasn't sure what to say. I wasn't sure if I could say anything without ending the sentence in "I love you," honestly. Even now, just staring back as Jacob looked down at me from his Sasquatch height, I could feel my heart trying to offer him all my love. Offering itself as a sacrifice if he would just glance at me lovingly once. But I berated myself for this. I'd broken up with him for a reason. He had been embarrassed of me. And the feelings I had for him weren't mutual, so why bother? I was only setting myself up for more heartbreak if I stayed with him regardless of his lack of attachment.

Then Jacob did the thing I'd been waiting for. He asked about something that I didn't want to explain.

"Why did you break up with me?"

I was stunned at first. I'd thought he would just bounce back from the break up like it was nothing. Move on to a Twiggy-like model or something. Maybe he was having trouble comprehending the fact that a girl would dump him-probably one of the most heavenly men on the planet.

"I told you," I murmured quietly. "I figured out that we would work out."

Jacob's face twisted into an expression of anger. "And what made you just decide this? What justifies breaking off something that was perfectly fine?" He gave me a slightly desperate look. "Were you not as happy as I was? Did you have feelings for someone else? Did I do something wrong? Why can't you just open up to me? Do you not trust me?"

My brain was about to explode. I couldn't take the rapid fire round of questions. The answers were too complicated and I wasn't given any time to explain. So I just kinda...lost it.

"Stop!" I roared, cutting off Jacob's endless flow of questions. "I did it because I don't want to get hurt, OK? Satisfied, Jacob?" My voice was sharp and bitter, a façade to hide the fact I could feel my heart slowly crumbling inside me.

He looked stunned and confused. "What do you mean? I would never-"

"I'm not that girl." I blurted out. "I'm not that small town sweetheart who charms the hell out of everyone. I'm not going to be the girl you show off to your parents and friends because you're proud that she's on your arm. I'm the girl who gets dumped. The one who won't have any hope of finding someone compatible-not even 'Mr. Right', but a compatible partner-until after I'm out on my own. Guys settle for girls like me. They want the hot cheerleaders and sexy sluts and gorgeous celebrities, but they end up with me instead because that's all they can get. Only, here's the problem with that, Jacob. You aren't that type of guy.

"You're the one men envy because you actually get the supermodel or whoever you go for. And while that's all fine and dandy, I don't want an attachment to someone like that. I'm not willing to risk my heart, thinking that you're it for me, while you go off chasing the perfect girl. I don't want to give you the chance to leave me in the dust and-"

I didn't get to finish my rant, although I'm not sure if it ever would have had I not been cut off. But I couldn't get out anymore words because Jacob had grabbed my face in between his hands and smashed his lips to mine. At first, I tried to pull away. But he refused to allow me to move. And then, before I could put up another fight, I melted the way I usually do when we kiss.

That fire was there too. Heat enveloped me and surrounded me completely-I was in my own little world, kissing Jacob. His lips were as soft as I remembered, but more forceful than any other kiss we'd shared. He didn't hold back, when before he'd treated me like glass. A porcelain doll.

Not this time, though.

Jacob clamped a hand on my waist and slowly snaked that arm around my torso while the other gripped my jaw. I could feel the heat building up within me, like a volcano ready to explode. Every molecule was ablaze as far as I was concerned. Magma flowed within me and boiled my insides, searing them, but in a good way. My arms clutched the source of the heat closer to me and my hand gripped the nape of his neck while the other explore his broad shoulder. I was practically hanging off of him as of right now.

And the special little world we were trapped in was broken by a horrified voice; my father's.

"What the hell is going on here?" Dad demanded. He was still in his "casual" wear from when he stormed off to get breakfast at some diner. His brown hair was slicked back and his eyes were fiery and furious. I fought the urge to scoff. As if he had a right to be angry.

I smiled. "Oh, nothing. I was just enjoying my morning make out session. How was breakfast?"

He glared and marched towards us, attempting to yank me away from Jacob, but he refused to let go-Jacob, I mean. His arms were locked securely around my waist and he wasn't letting go.

"Who is this boy?" Dad demanded. I rolled my eyes.

"Jacob Black."

"And why were you kissing him?"

I shrugged. "It's fun." My tone was practically screaming duh.

His eyes narrowed. "I suggest you say goodbye because I am seeing to it that you never see Jacob ever again."

I snorted. "And how do you plan on accomplishing that? You and the human matress live in Florida. And you have a plane to catch in exactly two hours."

Dad huffed angrily, but seemed determined to see his threat through. "You'll see, Katie." He turned to Jacob. "As for you, scum, get lost."

Jacob was about to retort some smartass remark when I cut in. "Hey! Don't talk to him like that!" I snapped. "At least he didn't abandon his family for a stripper just because she didn't charge you for a good time."

He didn't reply, just marched into the house, as if to prove a point. I watched him go, extremely pissed off by his slightly self-righteous attitude. Who was he to make decisions in my life? What gave him the right to dictate what I did when he'd just left me? And what else didn't make sense was his sudden interest in my "well being." When I was little, he'd had no problem ignoring me and letting me do whatever the hell I wanted. Why now?

"You really shouldn't have done that," Jacob said quietly, breaking me out of my furious trance. My eyes snapped from the closed front door to him and I raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"He's your dad. I don't want to cause any trouble between you and your family." Jacob said, nervously looking at his feet. Embarrassment didn't fit Jacob. He was supposed to be confident, Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky, even.

I sighed and shook my head. "Things in this family have been broken for a while now."

He didn't know what to say to that. Jacob watched me, waiting for me to explain, but I didn't. I couldn't without feeling uncomfortable. Besides, we were broken up, I reminded myself (even though we'd been making out two minutes ago). That meant that we didn't have to do the sharing game anymore. My business was mine and his was his. End of story.

Then why did I want to say or do anything I could to get him back as soon as he left?

***V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V***

The few days after my father left and my last encounter with Jacob were very mundane and boring. Maria had somehow roped me into helping her with pinning up posters about prom around the school. Since she was a part of the student council, she had to participate in at least one school event and Maria decided to go nuts over prom. Although, I think she still would've, with or without student council.

"So, how ya holding up?" Maria asked Thursday after school as I drove us to my house. I'd told her about me breaking up with Jacob Monday, and I'd thought my tough façade had been convincing. Evidently not.

"I've been better," I murmured honestly. No point in lying. "I'm not even sure why I'm acting like this. He's just a guy. There are billions of other guys on the earth, why do I have to obsess over him?" I wondered out loud desperately.

Maria shrugged. "I'd tell you my theory, but you'd just make fun of me like the bitch you are." The term bitch in this sentence was used affectionately, I assure you. Bitch was like a synonym for best friend in our minds; then again, our minds are very screwed up places.

I sighed. "Well, I've run out of options at this point. So whatever it is, lay it on me."

She stopped putting up fliers for a second and turned to face me. Slowly she leaned her back against the wall and slid down it slowly, planting her ass firmly on the ground. I eyed her suspiciously, but did the same, plopping down right next to her. The tiled floors were grimy and freezing, but I didn't get up. Maria watched me cautiously before letting out a long sigh.

"I've always believed in fate, karma, that kind of thing. And I've always believed that there is one person out there that is made for you; one of the main reasons you were both on the earth was to find each other. And I know that, even if I don't find my soulmate this time around, I will in another life because we were made for each other. Made to be together."

She was right. I wasn't buying her theory at all. It was just a bunch of crock that girls tell themselves because it's either (1) comforting when you can't get a boyfriend or (2) it's supposedly "romantic." Nevertheless, I didn't interrupt.

"And when I meet my other half, I'll know because there will be this...spark. Like fireworks or electric shocks or hot magma running through me when our eyes lock. And that connection I know we'll have..." She gave me another guarded look. "I see that connection when I see you and Jacob together. You're like magnets, always attracting the other. No matter how hard you try to fight it, the pull to be together is too strong to fight."

Her analysis had me bewildered.

Why? Because it made sense.

I, however, couldn't take the questions that had been gnawing at me for a while now. The questions that justified-in my mind-me breaking up with Jacob. Quickly, I jumped up and began pacing back and forth, hand raking through my hair.

"But-but what if he changes his mind? What if he decides he doesn't want me anymore? How am I supposed to deal with that?" I demanded. "I'm already practically in love with him and the thought of Jacob leaving me kills me inside. And that's unhealthy. We've only known each other like a few weeks and I'm already in love? Stuff like that belongs in cheesy Lifetime movies and romance novels."

When I'd stopped ranting, Maria gave me this incredulous look. Before I could ask why, she said in a low tone, "You dumped him because you were scared?"

I sighed. "It's not that simple-"

"You gave up what tons of people would kill to have because you're a fucking coward? Are you really that stupid?" Maria demanded. "Did Jacob ever indicate having a fickle heart? Did it ever seem like he would leave you for someone else-and not because you don't think that highly of yourself?" She paused and pursed her lips. "Although, after this stunt you've pulled, I'm starting to agree with your low opinions."

Her words cut me deeply. And not because they were harsh, which they were. I could handle harsh. I could deal with criticism. The words' wounds were so deep and painful because, even though I might not admit it out loud, they were true. I was being a coward. And selfish. And idiotic. But all I could think about whenever I thought about "chancing" it was that feeling I got when I thought that Jacob was embarrassed of me. Afraid to admit he'd been dating me to his friends. Obviously he'd made me out to be this great girl to his father, but was concerned that I wouldn't own up to the description.

Or, at least, that's how it'd seemed.

"You didn't see his face," I murmured.

Maria stopped during her rant to shoot me a confused, sidelong glance. "When?"

I let out a huff of air. My explanation as to why I broke up with Jacob had been pretty shitty, I'll admit that. I just didn't want to acknowledge the pain out loud at the time-and now, actually. But I sucked in a deep breath and told her, "I went to see Jacob the other day. The day I found out that my dad was coming for a hellish visit. I was going to go tell him about the whole family drama and why I refused to let him meet my dad, and hoping that maybe my long winded recollection of my parents' shitty marriage would help him understand why I had commitment issues.

"Anyway, I got there and Jacob wasn't home, but his dad was. So, his dad, Billy, let's me in and he's going on and on about how great Jacob said I was-"

"See!" Maria cut in. "I told you!"

I shot her a murderous glare. "Shut the fuck up," I said and continued with the story. "And it sounded like Jacob was making me out to be this amazing, wonderful girl that I obviously am not. Anyway, half through Billy's Jacob's-told-me-so-much-about-you rant, Jacob gets home with a couple friends. As soon as he spots me, he freezes up. And while his friends and I are obviously waiting for introductions, he doesn't say a word. He couldn't even..." I sucked in a deep breath as my voice cracked a little bit as the pain resurfaced. "He couldn't even fucking look me in the eye. He just seemed so embarrassed and ashamed. And I realized that he wasn't as committed to the relationship as I had been. I was the in between girl." I paused and chanced a glance towards Maria. "That's why I broke up with him."

For a moment, she didn't say anything. Just sat there and stared at the dusty tiles while I fidgeted with my hands nervously in my lap. I kept waiting for her to tell me I was right, that I was Jacob's in between girl. And then she'd give me this sad look where Maria would pretend she'd been in this situation before-even though she never had and she never will-and just nod sympathetically. Assure me that there were other guys, better guys, out there for me.

But she didn't do any of that. She just sat there.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, she spoke.

"Did you ever think that maybe he was ashamed of his friends?" Maria asked quietly, still looking kind of spaced out.

My head whipped to look her in the eye as I gave her a disbelieving look. "What?"

"What if it was his friends? What if he was worried you wouldn't like them? I mean, if he had annoying friends and you were the type of girlfriend who gets all 'either it's me or them' on your spouse, I'd be wary of introductions too."

I bit my lip as I thought over the possibility. It fit and made sense. We hadn't been "together" that long. Jacob wouldn't have an idea if I was that type of girl or not. (Which I am not-if I didn't like the friends, I could deal with it myself.)

And as it all clicked into place, I wanted to do two things.

1. Kiss Jacob senseless.

2. Beat myself up with a baseball bat for being an idiot.

When I got home after finishing up with Maria, it was around six-thirty. The sun was starting to lower from the sky, causing strips of pink, orange, and red to spread across the sky. The rare appearance of the sun today had only made me angrier. Of course on the one day I want the world to be as dreary and depressing as I am, it decides to be bright and sunny and cheery. The streets of our neighborhood were lifeless, people already settled into their homes. The lights in the house were on and I saw Dean's car parked in the driveway as I pulled up.

Mentally, I just prayed he hadn't had a breakdown again or something. I couldn't take that today.

Luckily, I came inside to find my brother and mother laughing at something on the television while eating Chinese take-out. When the door shut their eyes strayed towards me, pointed me towards the take-out for myself, and went back to watching TV. Silently, I slipped into the kitchen and grabbed a box of food and chopsticks before heading back into the living room to watch whatever they were watching.

I plopped down in the squishy arm chair that would envelope whoever sat in it with its softness and started picking at my food. My gaze didn't stay on the TV, though. It was aimed directly at the floor as I thought over my situation. I'd done the most idiotic, stupid, selfish thing in my life and I had no idea how to take it back-if I even could.

Jacob no doubt hated me for dumping him. If not because he liked me, because he never gets dumped. Usually the dumper instead of the dumpee. And if I tried to get him back he'd probably throw the break up in my face. Tell me that it was my fault we weren't together, which it was. That I deserved the consequences of the break up and could most definitely not take it back, which was also true.

So now I was stuck in some miserable limbo where I longed for Jacob, but, sadly, couldn't have him.

Sighing tiredly, I lost my appetite completely and put the kung pow chicken in the fridge for later. Dean and Mom both gave me questioning looks, but I just waved them off, muttering something about being tired or having a ton of homework and slinked off to bed.  
>Dark clouds hung over my head and depression practically seethed off of me as I got ready for bed. I pulled on a t-shirt that was too big for me as a nightgown and brushed my teeth before hopping into bed. Where my bed was situated in my room was backed into a corner, right next to a window that over looked the foresty area behind my house.<p>

At first, I tried sleeping. I closed my eyes and let my body relax, but my mind was going a mile a minute. After a long period of time, my eyes just snapped open and refused to close until my mind slowed its thought speed or whatever you would call it. But, of course, that didn't happen and that's how I ended up staring out the window at ten o'clock at night.

The sky was pitch black, the only thing lighting it up being the full moon and bright stars. The woods seemed more ominous than usual, seeming as if there was some big scary creature hiding within its depths. And for a really long time, when I was little, I thought that a dragon slept in the woods at night. I'd hear weird sounds at night and be like, "Oh crap, the dragon's awake!" Of course, my mom, being the unsupportive woman she is, only encouraged my fear. Saying that the dragon snacked on little girls when they got hungry in the middle of the night. Then she'd roar with laughter when I screamed or started panicking over the weird sounds I heard at night-possibly, I'm still not clear on if I made them up or not.

Just as I was remembering the good ol' days of my dragon phobia, the bushes towards the edge of the property rustled. My body froze and I watched, waiting for a demonic squirrel-or dragon-to pop out. After a few minutes, nothing happened, so I sighed and started to zone out for a second when the bushes rustled again. And again, I froze up.

But this time, I wasn't disappointed on seeing something come out. Only I hadn't expected what I saw. It was this giant, humungo wolf.

I should've been threatened by the wolf, scared by its sudden appearance and huge size, but I was fascinated. The wolf was kind of beautiful-or, as beautiful as a giant wolf can be. Its russet colored fur reflected and gleamed in the moonlight, its unfathomable eyes dark as night.

You know how you're always told animals are more afraid of you than you are of them? That they would never actually approach you? Well, this wolf defied that logic.

I sat up in bed and got extremely close to the window, practically pressing my face against the glass. And the wolf saw me. Its eyes connected with mine and we just stared at each other. Then, after a few seconds of our weird staring contest, the wolf started walking closer, slowly. As if he were testing the waters. Almost like he was gauging my reaction to him approaching. I stayed very still, just watching him gradually move towards me, only moving when I breathed in and out or occasionally blinked.

And then, after a while, we were right in front of each other, only the window seperating us. The wolf watched me and his eyes looked sad, like his little heart was breaking. My breath fogged up the glass, blurring the image of his face. But his eyes were still there. Always there, watching. And they seemed so familiar. Like this wasn't the first time I'd stared into their dark depths.

Oddly enough, the wolf's eyes reminded me of Jacob's.

"Hey," I breathed, even though the wolf probably couldn't hear me. Or maybe he did, because his ears perked up when I said that.

We stayed like that for a very long time. At some point I fell asleep, though. And when my eyes opened the next morning before I had to get up to get ready for school, I was sorely disappointed by the lack of appearance of the wolf-my wolf, I'd decided.

**A/N: Happy Holidays! So, as a present to all you wonderful people reading this, I've decided to post two chapters today. As soon as I give a few thanks out and all that good stuff, I'll post the tenth chapter (double digits baby!)**

**Alright, so I'd like to thank everyone who's posted a review to this story:**

**1sweetmoment**

**BamaBelle630 (x3 because you've reviewed more than once, which makes me super duper happy)**

**Emily Rush (x2 again, reviewed more than once, for which I thank you)**

**XoXMaximumculleNXoX**

**nene82743**

**Gabs (also, you got the question from the last chapter right so... CYBER HUG! :) )**

**ChesireCat2012**

**And thank you to everyone else who's at least read this story! You have no idea how much motivation it gives me to update knowing that it's not pointless. That someone actually reads what I post.**

**Katie: *cough* Sap! *cough***

**Me: *glares* Shut up! Can you not be infuriating long enough for me to finish my A/N?**

**Katie: Probably not.**

**Well, that's about it. So...bye.**

**- HBTC**


	10. Chapter 10

"So...What're you gonna do?"

I'd just poured out all my concerns and the entire problem with going to see Jacob and my dumping him and just...the shit I'd caused. I told Maria all this hoping she'd have some advice. While my best friend may not be the most innocent of senior girls, she's pretty good at telling me what to do. Has been since we met our freshman year. But what is her only reply to my venting and troubles being dumped in front of her?

She fucking asked me what I was going to do.

I gave her this incredulous look, wondering if she'd been dropped on her head as a child. "That's it? That's your big hunk of advice?" I snapped impatiently.

She shrugged. "I don't know what you're supposed to do. If I did, I would've told you."

"And you couldn't even take a guess? Kind of point me in some general direction?"

Maria shook her head and started eating a pudding cup she'd brought for lunch. Part of me hoped the thing would randomly explode in her hands so I could storm off dramatically while pudding dripped from her hair. But instead she just finished it off happily and I glared at the table we were sitting at in the cafeteria.

_Well, I'm back to square one_, I thought tiredly, letting out a sad sigh. _Now what?_

Maybe I could explain. Try to get Jacob to understand exactly how fucked up my head is and that I just have commitment issues. And maybe I'd get lucky and Jacob would understand. And then we'd just skip off happily into the sunset or whatever the hell happy couples do when they get back together.

I snorted at the thought of either me or Jacob skipping off into the sunset. But the idea of seeing Jacob again, even if it would be painful or he would reject me, gave me this warm feeling inside. Not uncomfortable, but...nice. It was a nice feeling. Until I thought about what

I'd do if Jacob didn't want me. Then everything began to turn cold and I could feel that dark cloud of depression creeping back over me. I forced the pessimistic thoughts away and focused on the task at hand.

After school I would visit Jacob.

***V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V***

With the windows on both sides of the car rolled down, I cruised through Forks and towards La Push with the radio's volume cranked up high. The singer was singing about how their ex-boyfriend had cheated on them and that they were glad he's gone. But I couldn't help but think that it was all bullshit. If your boyfriend/girlfriend cheats on you, you're not going to feel empowered and self-righteous. You'll feel like shit. Like it's your fault they cheated because you were less than satisfactory as a spouse.

I shook my head at mainstream musicians' ridiculous lies and continued driving, tapping my thumbs on the steering wheel to the beat. Nervously, I glanced down at my outfit. Was it appropriate for begging on your knees for forgiveness? I decided yes. Beat up skinny jeans, black T-shirt, Converse, and a jean jacket. My hair was pulled back and the sleeves of the jacket were rolled up to my elbows. Around noon it'd gotten a little warm, but the constant cloud cover refused to budge. A little heat wouldn't make it leave, sadly.

As I navigated my way to Jacob's house, I tried not to act nervous. You are strong, I chanted mentally. You can do this. If only I actually believed the mantra.

When a familiar red house came into view, my heart rate sped up. My breathing was a little quicker than usual and sweat beaded on my forehead even though it wasn't that hot. I tried to remind myself this was just Jacob. The Jacob who I'd shared so much with, who I felt I could trust with anything-including my heart, evidently.

I parked and got out, walking quickly and quietly towards the house. Just as I was about to get to the house, the front door burst open and two boys came jogging out, laughing and carrying on. I stopped and stared at them for a second. They noticed me and stopped playing around, watching me with uneasy expressions. They were the boys I'd seen with Jacob the day...the day that I didn't want to think about.

Clearing my throat, I said, "I came to see Jacob. Is he home?"

One of them was about to answer in what seemed to be a friendly, if not neutral, manner. But his friend quickly cut him off and sneered with a disgusted expression, "He's busy. What're you doing here anyway? Here to hurt Jacob once again?"

I flinched at his words, but stayed calm. "No, I just want to talk."

"Well, what good has that done? Every time you two 'talk' he ends up getting hurt by you. Every fucking time." The boy spat at me.

I glared. "What happens between Jacob and I is our business not yours."

"He's my friend and I care about him! Of course it's my business! Especially when some girl walks all over him and no one else dares to say anything!" He hissed. The boy and I scowled at each other menacingly, neither one of us backing down. His friend tried to step between us, murmuring something quietly to the other.

"I didn't walk all over him! And what would you know about what is and isn't good for Jacob? Maybe I am good for him! Maybe you're just overreacting and need to calm the fuck down!" I snapped.

He rolled his eyes sardonically. "Please. I overreact? I'm not the one who got all pissy when their little boyfriend didn't introduce you to his friends."

My eyes widened. Jacob had told him? Who else had he told? Did he think I was as vain and ridiculous as his friend obviously did? Tears pricked at my eyes and I took a deep breath, attempting to keep the tears at bay.

The other boy punched his friend. "Shut the hell up, Embry." He whispered lowly. "Mind your own goddamn business!"

Embry rolled his eyes. "Oh, now I'm in trouble because I called her out on her bitchy behavior? We all know that she was being stupid and selfish, don't pretend I'm not the only one who-"

His rant was cut off by me slapping him. I could feel my anger boil over as his words pushed me to the edge. He didn't have to throw my mistakes, my idiocy in my face constantly. Embry was making me so mad with his self-righteous behavior and biting comments meant to drag my ego farther down in the mud than it already was. But evidently, slapping him wasn't the right way to go about this anger.

Embry began to shake, his body quaking as tremors racked his limbs. He was breathing in and out deeply as his eyes narrowed into slits. His nostrils flared and I could feel the anger seep out of me as my eyes widened. I took a step back from Embry, waiting for him to do something.

The other boy yelled, "Get back! Now!" While trying to pull Embry off into the secluded area of the woods where he could calm down. I jumped backwards and retreated back a few feet, watching the scene before me with a frightened expression. _What had I done?_

Just as I thought that, the tremors got worse. Embry's teeth were clenched tightly and his shoulders moved dramatically as the breaths dragged in and out of him. The air was thick with tension.

"Embry, calm-" But his friend didn't get to finish. Because it was too late.

I've felt like I was going to explode from anger before. But Embry literally did that. He exploded and this huge wolf took his place. This wolf was different from my wolf. For one, I was pretty sure that it was Embry. And two, my wolf didn't make me feel the need to run. The wolf let out a loud growl and scowled at me in a way that definitely communicated the message, "I hate you."

"Oh my God," I whispered, terrified as I stared up at the wolf. His fur was sleek and grey with black spots on it. Another angry growl echoed from his chest and I stumbled back at the sound. I was sure I was going to die.

And then, another growl, a louder, even angier one, came from deep within the woods and I could hear fast foosteps pounding into the ground as someone bounded towards us. The trees rustled and branches cracked as the thing approaching got even closer. What now? I thought, wondering if someone else felt the need to kill me. But all my fears faded away as my wolf broke through the trees and let out a roar, charging at wolf-Embry.

Embry's friend grabbed my wrist and dragged me towards the house as we watched Embry and my wolf duke it out. Their bodies crashed together and then tumbled to the ground in a fumbling mess of biting and scratching. At first, I just watched with a horrified expression, wondering if I'd somehow hit my head and dreamt all this up. People just didn't burst into horse sized wolves and then duke it out with other over sized wolves! It was insane.

"Come on," the still unknown boy said, yanking me inside the house. I just tried to get a glimpse of the fight, making sure my wolf was OK. My worries were pushed back when I saw that my wolf was obviously going to win and I let out a sigh.  
>Once inside, the boy told me his name was Quil and ordered me to sit down while he made a phone call. Kind of numbed from the mind-fucking experience I'd just had, I merely nodded and sat in the living room, gaping at nothing.<p>

What the hell was going on?

***V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V***

Apparently there was some sort of crew that handled this kind of thing. When someone was informed of this little gang's secret, the older members went about telling them and explaining the situation. This comittee of explainers included Sam Uley, Jared Cameron, and the forever wise Mr. Billy Black. The latter and Sam were taking the whole thing very seriously. Explaining everything slowly and calmly, but Jared was something else. He thought it was hilarious that I'd found out about the pack-that's what they called themselves apparently-by watching two best friends fight each other.

I found the situation less amusing.

Werewolves. They were fucking werewolves.

What was next? Unicorns? Fairies? Mermaids? It just didn't seem possible at all.

It was though. Because I'd seen the transformation right before my eyes when Embry exploded.

I'll give you the run down of this whole big secret.

Ever since they can remember, a small-practically minute-percentage of Quileutes have had the ability to transform into wolves. The purpose? To protect the people of their "tribe" from other evils, of course! Anyway, these wolves have been around for God knows how long and are completely harmless-that one took me a while to accept-unless their temper flares up. You see, their transformations aren't effected by the full moon, but by hormones and rage. When a werewolf is pissy, take a few steps back because he could burst into a fur ball any second. The only time it's really dangerous to be around a werewolf is their first two or three weeks as a wolf because they will transform quickly and constantly. But there haven't been any new wolves lately, the newest ones being about two years ago, Collin and Brady.

I was still recovering from shock. My eyes darted around the room so I could avoid looking them in the eye and have to force myself to realize that yes, this was all very real. And Jacob was one of them-one of the wolves. He was my wolf. The wolf I'd claimed as mine.  
>Slowly, when everything had finally set in, I raised my eyes to meet theirs and fought to stay calm. "So," I murmured quietly. "Anything else I should know about? Any threatening mythical forces like evil pixies or demonic sirens or something?" Joking was my way of coping.<br>The rest of the pack, that was actually around, didn't find my joke very funny. In fact, they exchanged glances which only meant that yes, werewolves were not the only thing I had to worry about.

"Well, there's still a lot you don't know about us," Sam said finally. "But I think you've learned enough. We'll just let all we've told you sink in for a little while." And with that, he and Jared left the house, off to patrol or think of ways to get rid of me, no doubt.  
>Billy cleared his throat awkwardly and wheeled himself into the kitchen while Quil kept glancing outside. As soon as I started to get up to leave, the front door burst open and I could hear laughter of two boys floating through the air. My heart stopped for a second as one thought crossed my mind: Jacob...<p>

The two boys had their arms around each other as they laughed about some unheard joke. I fidgeted nervously in my seat as I tried to figure out what to do. Embry continued chuckling and went to get some food out of the kitchen, but Jacob froze as soon as he saw me.

"Hey," I said quietly.

"Hey," Jacob replied.

I bit my lip. I might as well do what I came here to do in the first place. So I spoke as if this whole werewolf detour never came up. "Can I talk to you?" I asked. "It's important."

He nodded and motioned for us to go outside where it was more private. Another attribute to being a werwolf, you had awesome hearing.

We walked down the shoreline in silence, neither of us really knowing how to begin. Jacob no doubt thought that I was going to attack him with questions. And he was probably also hoping that I kept the secret to myself-not that anyone would believe me if I did tell them. What evidence did I have? My word? Please. I didn't even value my word.

Anyway, the silence was extremely awkward and I wasn't sure how I should go about breaking it. My arsonal of icebreakers was very limited-I had two or three at most.

Finally, I just said, "I'm sorry."

Jacob looked at me like I was crazy, which I may very well be. "What are you sorry for?" He asked, clearly contemplating having my head examined, but then again, he wouldn't be the first.

I shrugged. "A lot of stuff. Mainly for being extremely stupid and that you have to deal with my stupidity."

"You're not stupid, Katie."

I snorted. "Say that with any family member of mine in the room and you'll probably have to listen to them cackle for ten minutes at the thought of anyone thinking I was smart, or even merely thinking that I'm just not stupid."

Jacob smiled slightly. "Sounds like my family," he murmured.

"So," I said and nudged his arm with my shoulder because he was just that tall, "werewolf, huh?"

He looked unsure of how to answer, so he merely nodded in response.

"That's cool, I guess. Although, turning into a giant furball when you get pissed off doesn't exactly sound ideal." Jacob snorted at my analogy.

"Not exactly, but that's the basic concept." He said.

I kicked some rocks with my foot and sloshed some watery sand violently to the side even though, right now, I felt completely drained. Too drained to have the energy to kick stuff around. Having the existence of mythical creatures sprung on you does that sort of thing. But whatever. I would deal like I always do.

Now I just had to deal with the emotional mess I was over Jacob.

The wind whipped around us, chilling me to the bone. I bit my lip to keep my teeth from chattering, completely unprepared for the sudden change in weather. But Jacob, the human heater, strutted around like it was nothing. Then again, with the heat that was practically radiating off of him, that didn't really surprise me. Upon noticing that I was cold, Jacob stepped closer and I practically melted with delight when his heat spread around my body.

We stopped and sat on a large, fallen branch, the wood cracking and crunching as it adjusted to our combined weight. I took in a deep breath and looked at Jacob. He was staring at me, searching my face for any sign of fear. I'd confessed I was (possibly) in love with him and he thought the werewolf thing would phase me?

"I actually came here for a reason before your friend burst into a horse sized wolf and decided to scare the crap out of me." He growled at the mention of Embry phasing in front of me. I ignored him and continued. "I had to tell you something. But then again, every time I try to tell you this something goes wrong. Maybe the universe is trying to tell me something." I paused to think for a moment before smirking and adding, "And Embry was there every single time. Hmm...good to know."

Jacob chuckled, but then gave me a curious glance. "So, what were you going to tell me?"

I sighed and stretched my legs out in front of me, staring at the horizon, refusing to look Jacob in the eye because, honestly, I was embarassed by my parents' story. Part of me was kind of humiliated that I was linked to that disaster of a marriage.

"The story that explains why I have commitment issues and why I...broke up with you," I said. "Though I'm not proud to admit either of those things."

"What?" Jacob asked.

My tongue darted out to wet my lips before I continued on. You can do this, I chanted in my head over and over. Maybe if I thought it enough I would actually start believing it.

"My parents had a shotgun wedding. In college, my dad got my mom knocked up her freshman year. They weren't even in a relationship when they slept together. Both had gotten drunk at some frat party and locked lips with the first thing that walked by. Luckily, or unluckily depending the way you look at it, they ran into each other. Anyway, when Mom found out she was pregnant, Dad did the responsible thing to do; he married her.

"Mom had to drop out of college, but Dad stuck through it since it was his last year. And nine months later, there's my brother Dean. After things had settled and they were all happy again, not frantically worrying about the future, I came along. And Mom was convinced that life would just be a breeze from now on. Filled with joy and love and all that crap that cheesy Chick Flicks advertise for.

"But, turns out, Dad was less than satisfied with the marriage. Apparently he'd been going out to this strip club downtown after work, claiming long hours to get away with it. And he fell for the ever charming Ashley, stripper extraordinaire. So, when I was two, Dad left me, Mom, and Dean for Little Miss Busty-I'm not joking that really was her stripper name-and a huge house in Florida.

"After Dad left my mom kind of lost it. Crazy depressed for months and when she finally started to get better, her solution for the loneliness was to sleep with guys she'd probably never see again and moving constantly. Her cover up for this was saying that every time we moved that she was trying to find her new artistic muse." I snorted at the shitty excuse. "Anyway, my dad dropped off the face of the earth, just sending birthday and Christmas presents. Maybe an occasional phone call here and there. He claimed he was going into an

extremely early retirement because of the big bucks he made working as a CEO. What he didn't expect was how much a greedy stripper can spend when given full access to every account he has except my college funds. So, he had to start working again. And that's when he decided that he had some sort of right to annoy me constantly after ignoring me for years."

Throughout my long winded story/rant, Jacob had said nothing. He gave me the occasional eyebrow raise or widen his eyes, but other than that, he remained perfectly stoic. So, once I was done, I'd expected for him to fling the nitty gritty questions at me. The who's, what's, when's, where's, and why's. But no, he just sat there and stared at me.

"That still doesn't really explain why, though," Jacob murmured quietly, so quietly I barely heard him. But I did.

I sighed and shook my head sadly. "When you grow up with that marriage as an example of love and a mother who is so broken and fragile because of it, you tend to shy away from relationships in general. I became a pessimist and that was the end of my childhood. No more fairytales for me, I didn't believe in happily ever afters anymore." A few tears slid down my cheeks and I let out an airy, sardonic laugh. "I mean, if my mother, the most wonderful woman I've ever met, doesn't get a happy ending, why would anyone else? _Especially_ me!"

This whole revelation made a sort of sadness seep into Jacob's expression. He reached out and wiped my cheek with his hand. Subconciously, I leaned into his touch, feeling that spark that I always felt whenever we touched. The electric current buzzed beneath my skin, clouding my mind from any thoughts other than Jacob. He looked kind of shocked by the action, but didn't pull away.

And then that current begged me for more, to be able to touch more of Jacob. So I slid over towards him slowly and press my face against his chest while his big, strong arms wrapped around me and held me tightly. And that dull ache I'd felt for so long faded away and I felt whole again. But I didn't deserve this. I didn't deserve his forgiveness that he provided so willingly. He should've asked me to leave as soon as I crossed the boarder line into La Push area.

That thought was enough to snap me out of it and I jumped back from Jacob like he was on fire. Jacob's expression was one of hurt; I guess he assumed this meant that I didn't want him back. I jumped up and started pacing back and forth. I could feel his eyes burning into my form, but I didn't stop.

"I don't deserve this," I murmured finally.

He was confused. "What?"

I didn't answer and abruptly turned the conversation in a different direction. I stopped to stare at that face that I had mapped out in my mind, forever imprinted in my brain. "Can I be completely honest with you, no holding back, for like ten minutes?"

He rolled his eyes at me, smiling softly. "Katie, I'd rather you be completely honest with me for the rest of your life."

I sighed. "Well, baby steps," I muttered before getting on with what I was about to say. "In case you haven't noticed, I don't think very highly of myself. My ego is basically nonexistant when it comes to us. And I dumped you because I'd convined myself that you would leave me in the end so it was better to break things off early on."

"That's ridiculous!" Jacob burst out. I held a hand up to silence any other outbursts so I could finish.

"There's this quote I heard once: 'A smart woman kisses, but doesn't love. Leaves before she gets left. And forgets before she gets forgotten.' So I did that. Followed through with those steps and was being smart." I let out a shaky breath. "But I didn't follow those simple rules."

"What do you mean?" He asked cautiously.

"I broke two out of three of those rules or whatever you would call them." I said. "I never forgot. And..." I met his eyes, my heart stuck in my throat, "...I-I still loved."

Jacob seemed to understand what I meant and leaned closer to me, pressing his forehead to mine. My eyes fluttered close and I just let myself enjoy this small moment for a little while. The feeling of his breath splaying across my face, the sandalwood scent of his skin, that spark humming as it traveled between us. Slowly, I leaned in closer, greedily wanting more of him. But the moment was broken as Jacob pulled away from me.

_Stay positive_, I thought. _Don't jump to conclusions, that's what got you in this mess in the first place._  
>"I need to tell you something, something more about the who werewolf thing," Jacob murmured. "There's this thing called imprinting. After we turn into a werewolf and we meet our soulmate, we imprint on them. Form this sort of attachment." He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "The best way I can get you to understand imprinting is to describe it like this: Before, gravity used to hold you to the earth. But now they do, your imprint. Every decision you make revolves around them-your entire world revolves around them! They hurt, you hurt. They're happy, so are you.<p>

"And I'm not saying that every imprint is romantic, though most do evolve into that. You can imprint on someone young; Quil imprinted on a four year-old girl named Claire. But the point is after you meet them, you become whatever they need you to be. If it's a brother or protector-though you'll always protect them-then that's what you become. If it's a partner or spouse, that's what you become." He stopped to watch me carefully. "Does that make sense?"

Slowly, I nodded, still a little shocked by the whole announcement. The way Jacob spoke, though. It was like he knew. He had imprinted, obviously. And I forced myself to not immediately assume it was me, though the idea of someone else being his soulmate after I'd announced that I was in love with him killed me inside. I had to be supportive no matter what.

Finally, I asked, "Have you imprinted?"

Jacob nodded in response.

"On who?"

He looked at me hesitantly. Oh God, it is someone else! A panicked little part of me thought. But then he uttered the small little word, "You."

My world was complete. I was blissfully happy. Insanely, even. I couldn't help it, a wide grin spread across my face and I flung my arms around Jacob's neck, flinging myself into his lap while I pressed my face into his chest.

"Does this mean you don't hate me?" I asked, my voice muffled by his chest.

He chuckled, the sound vibrating through his chest and he pulled away from me slightly to give me a reassuring grin. "I could never hate you, Katie," Jacob said. "I love you."

"Say it again." I pleaded desperately.

"I love you." He whispered in my ear, his breath tickling me. "I love you," he kissed my ear. "I love you." My neck. "I." Cheek. "Love." Nose. "You." Forehead.

Jacob didn't get to say much after that, I had otherwise occupied his mouth with other activities.

**A/N: Well, I don't really have much to say in this author's note. So, all I'll say is Happy Holidays!**

**- HBTC**


	11. Chapter 11

"_Please_?" Maria begged. "I'll love you forever. I'll bake you cookies every day for a year. Hell, I'm so desperate to get you to do it, I'll pay you!"

It was the week after Jacob and I had confessed our love for each other-an act that Maria took credit for putting together-and prom was this Friday. So you can imagine what Maria was begging me to do (and for those of you with the dirtier minds, sorry, I just don't swing that way).

Jacob and I were wrapped up in each other's arms on my couch, watching some reality TV show and making fun of the supposed drama going on. Yeah, a totally normal, couple-y thing to do. Anyway, Maria had barged in and was trying to figure out a way to get me to go. We were now down to the option of bribing me and Jacob was finding this whole situation extremely funny.

In fact, he was laughing his ass off while I was extremely annoyed.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and shook my head. "Maria, I don't care what you do. I refuse to go to prom and that's that. Now shut up and move! I think one of the girls is about to get bitch slapped."

Maria grumbled under her breath as she went into the kitchen to whine to my mother, "She ain't the only one."

I just rolled my eyes and settled closer to Jacob. As I got closer, I could feel him shaking with laughter. I pulled back far enough to slap his arm as hard as I could without hurting my hand. "You are an unhelpful jerk, you know that? I should just shun you for how ungentleman-like you've been." I said, sticking my nose up in the air while turning my back to him.

Jacob snorted, but slid his arms around my waist and placed his head on my shoulder. "I'm sorry. I promise to be more of a gentleman the next time Ria"-his new nickname for his new bestest buddy-"tries to get you to go to prom. Which, by the way, I think you should go to."

Shooting him an incredulous look, I asked, "And why is that?"

He shrugged. "It's a high school experience you would probably enjoy."

"Jacob, I'm not kidding when I say I am he worst dancer on the planet. I mean, yeah, I can do the stupid little dances like the Cabbage Patch or something, but my feet? I was born with two left feet. Hence the reason I fell down billions of times while trying to learn how to walk when I was a baby."

There was a loud, shrill laugh that came from the kitchen. Obviously my mother's. Then she piped up, "It's true. She's landed on her face more times then I'd care to count." And then she continued laughing and I could hear Maria join in with her. I rolled my eyes.

"She's always gotten a kick out of the fact that when I was struggling to learn to walk, I'd use my head as a back up plan. Can't walk? Let's fall on my head instead!" I muttered sourly. Jacob let out a little snort of laughter befor he bit his lip to keep from laughing. I patted his head. "Good boy! Now sit."

He shot me a teasing glare. "I'm not a dog."

"Awe, is somebody grumpy?" I asked in my puppy-talk voice. "Grumpy puppies don't get treats."

Jacob growled playfully. "Don't push it, Katie. I can't be held responsible for what I do."

I rolled my eyes. "What're you gonna do? Tickle me to death?"

Something lit up in Jacob's eyes and he pounced on me, knocking me on my back while he hovered over me, fingers lightly brushing against my sides, making me squirm. My body jerked and shook as I laughed obnoxiously and tried to escape. But I stopped squirming when my eyes connected with his.

There was something about the way he looked at me. The thought that I almost didn't meet him and get to this moment made my heart break. How could I go through life without him? It just wasn't possible. He was a part of me that would never go away. At least, not because I wanted him to.

When I stopped moving and laughing, Jacob looked slightly concerned. He didn't understand why I was staring at him like I was. Like he was my entire world.

Slowly, I leaned up and pressed my lips to his softly. A chaste, barely-there kiss. But I could feel the desire slowly building up within me. My lips pressed to his with a little more force and a small sigh of contentment escaped me lips.

"Couch fondling is strictly prohibited!" The voice of my mother said, making Jacob and I jolt apart. My mother cackled like a mad woman and plopped down into the plush armchair beside the couch.

I rolled my eyes and tucked myself into Jacob's side. "Sorry, Mom, but this is payback. Consider this the war of the sexual encounters: Mother VS. Daughter." I told her. "After being scarred for life, I'm now officially getting the chance to get you back. Which includes couch fondling."

Jacob looked slightly horrified by my words. His cheeks were darkened with a blush and he refused to meet mine or my mother's gaze. I just smirked at him, knowing he could see me through his peripheral vision, before turning back to the TV.

***V*V*V*V*V*V*V***

The Monday of the week of prom seemed fairly normal. I woke up, got dressed, ate breakfast, called Jacob to assure him no one had slit my throat in my sleep, and then headed to school. Maria was of course making out with Austin-the aforementioned prom date-in the parking lot. To break it up so I could get my best friend back from the game of tonsil hockey, I chucked the muffin I'd been eating for breakfast at the back of Austin's head. I was rewarded with a loud thunk coming from Austin's head and them breaking apart, glaring at the crowd around them as they searched for the culpret.

"Bitch," grumbled Maria as she took a step away from Austin, who was staring at the half-eaten weapon of choice on the ground in awe. Yeah, baked goods really do pack a punch.

I rolled my eyes. "There's plenty of time for you two to make out later. In the meantime, we have an English class to attend." And with that, Maria and I headed off to class, arms linked, while Austin continued to stare at the muffin like an idiot.  
>Maria really knew how to pick 'em, right?<p>

Not.

Around lunch time, as I was going through the line, Maria proposed a random change of seating. She looked at me with those dark eyes of hers and flashed me a smile that meant she wanted something.

"What is it?" I asked tiredly.

She sighed. "I feel like a change of scenery. Let's eat lunch on one of those picnic tables out at the front of the school." I could tell there was more to this proposition. Maria never made spur of the moment decisions. Like, ever.

But, being the wonderful friend I am, I didn't argue. Just nodded and finished paying for my lunch before following her out to the tables outside. I should've known something was up from the way she kept glancing around. I mean, sure, I was suspicious, but I didn't think much of her odd behavior. Prom was close and big events like that-in Maria's mind-caused her to act weirder than usual. So, I just went about my business.

And then it happened. The worst thing possible.

It felt as if everything began to slow down as I looked over my shoulder to see Jacob standing in the bed of a truck with a microphone in hand and two large amps on either side of him. What the fuck was he thinking? I was about to yell at him to go home when music began to play. It was the song "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" and as soon as I recognized it, I buried my face in my hands. This could only end in a number of ways and none of them were good.

"_You're just too good to be true_," Jacob sang huskily. His voice was slightly off key, but decent overall. Now I just prayed to god that he would shut the hell up and leave me alone.

I could feel the heat rising up my neck to my cheeks as I fought the urge to gape at my idiotic boyfriend. I opened my mouth to whine to Maria, when she gave me this look that meant she was in on it and was going to make me suffer through this entire plan to serenade me, or whatever the hell that idiot was thinking.

"C_an't take my eyes off of you_," he continued. "_You'd be like heaven to touch. I wanna hold you so much_." One of his friends began to drive Jacob from the back of the lot towards me. I was paralyzed with shock and embarrassment because, in the corner of my eye, I could see the crowd of students gathering off behind me, watching. "_At long last love has arrived and I thank God I'm alive. You're just too good to be true. Can't take my eyes off of you_."

A teacher, Mr. Banner, I believe, started towards Jacob and his serenade mobile, obviously about to shoo him off the school property. So, Jacob decided to skip the second verse and get on with the chorus.

"_I love you baby, and if it's quite alright, I need you baby, to warm a lonely night. I love you, baby, trust in me when I say: Oh, pretty baby, don't bring me down I pray. Oh, pretty baby, now that I found you stay and let me love you, baby. Let me love you!_" As soon as he began to sing again, Mr. Banner started to shout at him. In an attempt to ignore the teacher, Jacob would sing louder than Mr. Banner each time he tried to get him to stop singing. It was very amusing and by the end of his little mini-performance, I was giggling- yes, that's right, giggling -and smiling like everyone else in the crowd.

Jacob quickly jumped out of the back of the truck and bounded towards me, trying to talk to me before he was ordered to leave by the unintimidating Biology teacher.

I smiled up at him. "What was all that for?"

He grinned back. "So I could do this..." And with that, he bent down on one knee and I gasped.

"A proposal, Jacob?" I asked, pretending that I actually thought he'd propose to me. "You found out that I'm carrying George Clooney's love-child didn't you? I knew Maria couldn't keep her mouth shut!"

Jacob shook his head. "Shut up so I can ask you my real question-although we'll address this love-child business later." He took in a deep breath. "Katrina Stiles, will you do me the honor of going to prom with me?"

Of course. Fucking prom. I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Maria probably put him up to this. But if she was that desperate and Jacob was willing to suffer through it...

"I guess I can squeeze you into my busy schedule that night..." I murmured, nonchalantly checking out my nails as I said this. Before I knew what was happening, Jacob swept me up into his arms and spun me around as he clutched me tightly to his chest.

We heard the stomping steps of Mr. Banner approaching us, so Jacob pressed a quick, but firm, kiss on my lips before running and hopping back into the truck bed before his friend sped off and out of the parking lot. As soon as he was gone, the crowd began to break up.  
>The biology teacher turned to me with a scowl on his face. "Was that disruption of school your doing, Miss Stiles?" He asked, lips pursed in a way that made him look slightly constipated. I bit my lip to keep from laughing.<p>

I shook my head. "No, sir," I muttered.

He narrowed his eyes. "Oh, really? Because-"

Maria pranced over and cut him off. "Actually, Mr. Banner, it was my idea." She purposely made her eyes look hooded and twisted her body in a way that caused her cleavage to be blaringly obvious to the teacher. In a huskier tone she asked, "Is that a problem?"

It took Mr. Banner a moment to answer because he was too busy staring down her shirt like the pervert I knew he secretly was underneath all that crotchety annoyingness. He straightened his glasses and cleared his throat, dragging his eyes away from Maria's chest. "Of course not. Now, both of you, off to class."

Beaming happily, Maria hooked her arm through mine and began to drag me back inside the building towards the next class we shared.

Once out of earshot, I turned to her and asked, "Could you have been more obvious?"

"Probably," she said, before winking and adding, "but Banner would probably end up trying to attack me if I was."

I rolled my eyes and tried not to gag at how true it was.

The rest of the day was torturous. Girls I didn't know were constantly coming up to me, either gushing about how gorgeous Jacob was or how romantic his prom proposal was. It was extremely annoying. Of course, I wasn't going to tell Jacob about any of the compliments. God knows his ego is big enough as it is. But, for some odd reason, I love him anyway.

As I was driving Maria home from school, she said something that surprised me.

"Oh, by the way, I'll come by your house Friday after school with your dress so we can get ready together," she said off-handedly, right as she was about to get out.

I froze for a second, trying to figure out if I had misheard her. "Wait..." I murmured. "Did you just say 'my dress?'"

She beamed at me. "Of course! You thought I'd let you just get all those crappy, last minute dresses left in Port Angeles? Think again, missy. I have had our prom dresses planned out since we became best friends forever." Maria held her head a little higher as she proudly added, "And might I add that I designed both our dresses myself!"

And with that, she hopped out of the car and strutted inside her house. I sat there for a second, thinking that my best friend really was as crazy as I thought she was, before starting the car again and driving home.

**A/N: Yo yo yiggity yo! - (I adore the movie Juno)**

**Sorry it's been so long! I figured that the last two chapters I uploaded would keep you happy until I updated again. But, while I understand this chapter isn't very long, I got writer's block for a while. However, next up is prom!**

**I'm creating a playlist for this story on and will post it soon!**

**Remember, R&R! Anything you have to say is greatly welcomed!**


	12. Chapter 12: Prom!

"MY EYES!"

Well, this situation seems familiar, doesn't it? Anyone feeling sorry for me that I have to go through this yet again?

Luckily, the reason I screamed that wasn't because I walked in on my mother's disgusting foreplay, once again. Rather because she was kissing someone on the couch. While the kissing was fairly chaste and I saw no visible, or at least obvious, tonsil hockey, it still shocked me enough to scream that again.

You know what shocked me even more? She was kissing the Chief of Police, Charlie Swan.

My mother immediately pulled away from a very flustered Charlie and gave me a questioning look. Mainly because I'd seen much worse, why was I freaking out about something like this?

The chief stood up and looked between the two of us awkwardly. I decided to break the silence.

"Chief Swan, nice to see you." I said, attempting to be polite before turning to my mom. "Mother, may I see you in the kitchen for a moment?" I asked tightly.

She shrugged and nodded, telling Charlie to wait there while we talked. As soon as we were in the safety of the kitchen, I began to hiss under my breath furiously, "What the hell are you doing? I thought you were trying to seriously date someone, not make out with a policeman in our living room!"

Mom shook her head. "He is the guy I'm dating!" She hissed back. "We've been seeing each other for about three weeks and decided to finally make our relationship official. Hence my celebration."

I narrowed my eyes. "And now fondling has happened? You haven't slept with him yet?" I was suspicious. It wasn't like her to be this giddy over a man. She never was. If she was even inching towards giddy, it was because she'd had anotehr conquest, not about the guy in general.

She smiled and sighed dreamily. "Nope. He's such a gentleman and treats me like a queen."

I searched her face for any sign that said she was exaggerating or lying to keep me happy. I saw none. So, I sighed and murmured, "Fine, continue using the couch as you wish-"

"I'm so glad you approve, honey!" She exclaimed.

"I'm not done yet," I told her. "You can continue your official relationship celebration after I question the boyfriend."

Mom stared at me disbelievingly. "Why?"

"Because I need to make sure he's not a scuzzball."

"Don't you trust my judgement?"

"Not on the men you date, no. After all, you did date Dad."

"I was drunk and we didn't really date, technically."

"Yeah, technically, you got knocked up and had a shotgun wedding. All because of your bad judgement."

She huffed angrily, crossing her arms over her chest. "Fine, but if you scare him away, I will give your phone number to an extremely persistent salesman."

I rolled my eyes at her lame threat. Obviously she hadn't thought of me changing my phone number. But whatever. I agreed to try to not make the policeman pee his pants with my scary attitude or whatever she expected me to do to intimidate a guy who had a license to kill.

So, she left the kitchen, informing Charlie that I wanted to speak with him in the kitchen. When the chief entered, he actually looked nervous. Of me. Although I've been known to have a pretty good right hook, because I tested the punch on my ex-boyfriend multiple times, overall I wasn't very intimidating.

He pulled back a chair and sat across from me at the island in the middle of the kitchen. Charlie gulped a bit before waiting for me to begin the interrogation session.

"What are your intentions with my mother?" I asked stonily.

Under his breath he grumbled, "I thought I'd never have to do this again..." He straightened his shoulders and said, looking me straight in the eye, "I intend to enjoy your mother's company for as long as she'll have me and treat her the way she deserves."

I raised an eyebrow. "And how does she deserve to be treated?"

"Like a queen."

Outside the door we heard someone accidentally let out a little shrill squeal. Charlie chuckled at my mother's antics while I rolled my eyes. So immature!

"Anyway," I murmured, continuing, "why were you single when my mother met you? Are you a bad boyfriend? A drunk?"

He looked slightly shocked by my accusations, but shook his head. "No, none of those. I've never been very good at dating, not when I was young and not now. And before, I never had the motivation to. My confidence took a turn for the worst after my wife left me and then Bella came back and I was so happy about that I-" Charlie cut himself off, blushing. "You probably don't want to hear about that."

I was surprised to find that I was starting to like Charlie. He'd been abandoned like us, only his daughter was ripped away from him as well. And he seemed so bright and exuberant when he spoke about his daughter, that I couldn't help but like him. He was protective, but loving. And Mom needed some stability in her life. I only had one more thing to say.

"Don't break her heart," I ordered. "My dad already shattered it once, she won't recover from a second time."

The chief was taken aback by my sudden acceptance of him, but nodding passionately assured me, "I will take wonderful care of her."

I sighed and nodded slightly. "I know."

With that, I got up from my seat at the kitchen island and left to give them some privacy. Shutting myself up in my bedroom, I began to work on homework. Maybe things were starting to look up now.

***V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V***

Prom.

The word now disgusted me. It was Friday and prom was today. And all week that word had come up in every conversation I had a million times. Maria was gushing over her array of plans; the dresses, steps of getting ready, how wonderful the night would be, and, the worst one of all, her plans for after prom. It involved her, Austin, and a cruddy hotel room. Oh, joy.

As the school day came to an end, Maria hooked her arm through mine and ran through the parking lot at full speed, ordering me to take her to her house so she could pick up our dresses and accessories she picked out. I'd let Maria handle all that. If I'd been left up to it, I probably would've come in some dress that had been collecting dust in the back of my closet.

I took Maria's orders and drove to her house, where she rushed in, took about ten minutes, and came flying back out, two large black blobs flung over her arms, and a large bag that she explained contained the necessary accessories to look, at the very least, devastatingly gorgeous. As soon as we got to my house, she dragged me back into my room and began getting me ready.

"Why are we starting so early?" I asked as she poked and prodded me while doing my make up.

She sighed. "Katie, darling, I realize that in the world of girly things you are this inept, confused creature. But I thought, at the very least, you would know the answer to your question," Maria told me. "You have failed me, young padawan."

I rolled my eyes and muttered grumpily, "You watch one freakin' Star Wars movie and suddenly you're the reincarnation of Yoda."

"No way! I don't want to be some adorable, but extremely wrinkly, old dude!" Maria shook her head. "No, no, I'm just extremely intelligent like him."

"Yeah," I said sarcastically. "This 'intelligence' of yours really does shine through. I mean, remember the time you kept pushing on a door that said PULL for five minutes? Genius!"

"Shut up," Maria murmured and added a yank on my hair for good measure when I didn't.  
>To my surprise, it really did take us forever to get ready. The only break I got from the torture of having her treat me like a Barbie doll was when Maria did her own hair and make up. Although, it only took like fifteen minutes and then I was being attacked again.<p>

I will admit that Maria did a great job picking out the dresses. My dress was a strapless chiffon dress that fell to the floor. The bodice was tight and had a silver pattern that wrapped around the waist and went upwards. While layers of dark taffeta fell to the floor from the waist down. For the most part it was a sort of teal colored dress and definitely matched my style.

The shoes I was wearing were the same color as the dress, along with an opal pendant that felt cool against my bare flesh. My hair was pulled up into a messy, but somehow elegant bun on the top of my head with strands falling around my face occasionally. The make up was fairly simple with a smokey eye thing going on and clear lip gloss applied to my lips.

Maria, however, looked devastatingly gorgeous. her dress was a soft green color and satin that only had one shoulder. It showed quite a bit of skin also, which she told me was so that she could prove to Austin that he wasn't the only man interested in her. The back was open and the shoulder strap came across her shoulder blades and downward while another strap came from her side and connected with it. Also, the open back wrapped around her stomach ever so slightly that you could see a piece of her side. And finally, it split open around her mid thigh, once again exposing more skin.

She would have no trouble gaining the attention of the majority of the male population.

Her hair was wrapped up in a loose braid that laid gently on her shoulder. Maria had applied her make up lightly, the only thing standing out being her dark lipstick. She put on some diamond earrings and then declared herself devastating enough to head to prom.

Not too long afterwards, my mom yelled at the top of her lungs, even though it was unnecessary, "Katie! Maria! Your boyfriends are here, so get the hell out of my house!"

I rolled my eyes and glanced at Maria. "She's such a kind, thoughtful mother."

We entered side by side and waited for the required compliments that came with us getting dressed up for prom. If you didn't compliment your date, there was no way the night would be easy for you. Austin and Jacob were also standing side by side at the door. Maria had given her date directions to my house to pick her up. Mainly because her parents would die if they found out who was taking her to prom.

Austin let out a low, derrogatory whistle and said, "Babe, you look hot." I guess that was good enough of a compliment because Maria beamed and rushed over towards him, saying bye to my mother and Jacob, who was paying little to no attenion to her.

His eyes were locked on me and he slowly looked me up and down. I felt heat rise to my face and I fidgeted under his gaze, feeling embarrassed. Finally, after his thorough examination of my dress, he looked up to my face and gave me a boyish grin.

"You look beautiful," he told me. I smiled back.

"Beautiful? That's it? Because I don't go to prom with guys who call me anything less than devastatingly gorgeous." I teased lightly as I approached him. Jacob chuckled and held his arm out for me to grab.

As I did so he whispered in my ear, "I would've said more, but I figured that your mother wouldn't want to witness it."

I rolled my eyes, wishing my hair was down so I could hide my blush. Mom practically shoved us out the door and off we went.

***

The gymnasium was being used as the setting for prom. The theme was "A Night in the Clouds" with stars and clouds and all that sky related stuff covering every surface. The round tables sat about six people to each one and there was a large buffet of food and drinks against the back wall. The music was thumping loudly as we entered. People were dancing, drinking, or lined up to get their prom photo.

As soon as we entered, Maria attacked me with a tackle hug and attempted to yell over the loud music.

"What do you think?" She asked, voice obnoxiously loud for hearing purposes.

I smiled tightly, not really excited about tonight, but trying to be enthusiastic for her sake. "It's awesome! You did a great job, Maria!" I yelled back.

She glanced at Jacob, her eyes asking the same question.

He grinned. "Fantastic, Ria," he said. The two words had Maria beaming at the two of us before she skipped off, saying something about finding Austin.

We stood there for a second awkwardly, before Jacob asked, "Do you want to dance?" I shrugged, might as well, and took his hand, leading him out onto the dance floor while some upbeat song that I didn't know played.

Bodies were pressed against each other, beads of sweat already rolling off of them. Jacob and I ended up pressed together. At first, it was awkward as we tried to figure out how we were going to dance like this. Then we just sort of let instinct take over and moved in sync, our bodies tightly pressed together.

The dancing was slow and sensual, border line erotic. But I enjoyed myself a lot. We danced like that for a while before some local band came on stage to play and we took that as our cue to rest for a little while. People shouted and cheered as the band fumbled their way through a cover of "Cooler Than Me" by Mike Posner.

Jacob offered to go get us some drinks and I accepted the offer gratefully, wanting to rest for a little while and catch my breath. As soon as I sat down, my eyes automatically drifted to Jacob's retreating form. It was like a reflex reaction. To find him. Know where he was. It eased the weight on my chest that I felt whenever he wasn't near.

When he reached the punch bowl, almost immediately, pretty girls began to gravitate towards him. One girl in particular, a blond whose name I didn't know, was very persistant. I watched with a twinge of jealousy as she placed her hand on his chest, pretending to brush something away. My eyes narrowed slightly when she left her hand there.

"It's always going to be like that, you know," a voice said from behind me. I turned to see the last person I wanted to talk to. Mark.

I glared at him. "Don't you have some girl to fuck or something? Can't you just go perform poorly somewhere else?"

His jaw tightened when I questioned his ability to satisfy a woman, but he didn't snap. Merely let the insult slide off of him. Then he glanced at Jacob across the room.

"Guys like him are always in demand. And, while he may not care now, the attention will eventually get to him. And he'll start to like it. Revel in the feeling of being so vastly in demand that it makes him feel like he can do or say or have anything he wants," Mark said smoothly, drinking from the cup in his hand as he finished.

I ignored the majority of what he said. "Wow. I'm surprised you have heard the word vastly, let alone know how to use it."

"Make all the snarky remarks you want, Katie, but it won't stop what I'm saying from being the truth." It was then that Mark finally stepped closer, invading my personal space. He leaned even closer, slowly lifting a hand to place on my arm. I fought back the urge to shudder and tried to focus on getting him to leave.

My eyes bore into his with a certain determination. "What are you doing?" I asked tightly, shrugging off his hand.

He leaned even closer to whisper in my ear, "I never should've treated you the way I did. You're special, Katie. And worth any fight I have to get through to make you mine." His breath was hot against my ear and I felt my eyes widen at his words. He continued, "Jacob doesn't deserve you. Hell, I don't, but I can make you feel more than that douche ever could." With that, he brushed his lips against my ear slightly.

That action set off the sirens in my head. I jerked away from him. And moved just in time to watch Jacob sock him in the jaw. Mark stumbled from the blow and my eyes got even more wide as I took in the huffing and puffing and furious Jacob. He was breathing heavily and looking like he wanted to strangle Mark...then revive him so he could kill him again.

I reached out towards Jacob, about to ask him to just leave it alone and take me home. But he was already heading towards Mark again.

Furiously, Jacob hissed, "Stay away from my girlfriend. And if I ever see you so much as glancing her way, I'll kill you."

His threat was frightening because I knew he meant it. If Mark tried anything again, he would die. Mark realized that too and made a mad dash for the door. Yeah, some fight he was putting up for me, I thought sarcastically.

"Are you alright?" I asked quietly, approaching Jacob. He turned to give me an angry glance.

"Of course I'm not alright. I just saw my girlfriend's ex feeling her up and her just standing there and letting him!" He snapped. The words were like a knife to the heart. It hurt that he doubted my feelings for him. But I knew that this would be resolved soon enough. I just wanted my chance to snap as well.

I glared back at him. "I wasn't letting him feel me up, I spent every minute he was standing there insulting him. Besides, you were otherwise occupied with a blond prostitute at the punch bowl."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, please, Katie. She said hello and acted like a skank. I politely told her to fuck off"-this was one of the few times Jacob cursed around me and I liked it-"and turned around to find you flirting with you ex-boyfriend. I think we both know who's at

fault here."

"Jacob," I said, my tone warning him not to push me.

Our gazes locked for a second or two before we sighed simultaneously. "I don't want to fight," Jacob told me and I nodded in agreement.

"Me either. Let's just enjoy tonight." I paused a second before adding, "Or, at least, enjoy ourselves as much as we can at prom."

He laughed at my distaste for the word. All drama forgotten, a slow song began to play. Gently, Jacob placed a hand on my waist as he led me onto the dance floor, squeezing us next to the other couples. I wound my arms around his neck and attempted to dance on my tip-toes. He laughed at me and then picked me up slightly before placing my feet on top of his so I didn't have to strain to dance with him.

I bit my lip to keep from laughing when I realized what song it was. "Can't Take My Eyes Off You," the same song that Jacob had sang when he asked me to prom. With my face pressed into his chest as we danced, I could feel him laughing to himself. Part of me swore up and down that Jacob had planned this.

"You have to admit," Jacob told me, "that my prom proposal was pretty suave."

I laughed and rolled my eyes. "Sure, Romeo. Very suave."

"You know, any other girl would've freaked out if their boyfriend asked them to prom like that. I actually get a worse opinion for that." This statement seemed to baffle him.

"I'm a simple gestures kind of girl. Asking me on a whim is the style I prefer, Casanova, so keep that in mind next time."

He grinned wolfishly. "Next time?"

I rolled my eyes, but could feel my cheeks heating up at what I just implied. "Shut up and dance," I muttered defensively, hiding my face in his chest.

We stopped moving for a second, and then Jacob's warm hand pushed my chin up, forcing me to look at him. He was smiling softly, looking as cheesy as ever. "Don't be embarrassed because there will most definitely be a next time."

With that, he leaned down and pressed his lips against mine. At first, it was very chaste. But then I felt that familiar fire in the pit of my stomach and pressed myself closer to him, Jacob eagerly accepting the close contact. The outside world no longer existed. It was just the two of us, holding each other close. Expressing our love to each other. It felt as if we were the only two people on the planet.

That is, until Embry's voice attacked my ears.

"Jacob!" He yelled over the music, which had now switched back to upbeat, pop songs. Embry had on a wrinkled t-shirt, cut offs, and some tennis shoes. Obviously, he'd snuck in and was in a hurry to find my boyfriend. Embry and I hadn't really spoken since the I-almost-phased-and-maimed-your-face incident.

Releasing me, Jacob met him half way. "What's wrong?"

"That scent is back again and it leads to-" he cut himself off. At first I thought he was looking at me, not wanting to say whatever it is he had to say in front of me. And I would've snapped at him, had I not seen the dazed, slightly happy look on his face. I looked behind me and saw that Maria was standing a few feet behind me, talking to a teacher chaperone about God knows what.

I turned back to Embry and Jacob, who was now looking slightly panicked. "Did he just...?"

Jacob nodded. "Uh-huh."

Embry interrupted. "Who's she?" He asked desperately.

"Her name's Maria." I told him and as soon as I said that, a wide smile spread across his face.

"She's breath-taking," he breathed out quietly. I'm not sure what surprised me more; Embry imprinting or the fact he'd just called anyone "breath-taking."

Jacob gripped Embry's shoulder and turned him to face him, but I could see Embry sneaking glances at Maria every other second. "Where does the scent lead?" He asked.

The question seemed to snap Embry out of his hazy mental state. He sounded extremely apologetic as he said, "Katie's house."

Jacob's eyes went wide before he controlled his expression for what I assumed was my sake. He turned to me and said quickly, but calmly, "I have to go, Katie. I promise I'll explain later. I'm really sorry." He pressed a quick, but firm, kiss to my lips before rushing out the door. Embry stood there for a second, shooting Maria a strained look, before running after Jacob.

Confused and tired, I sat down, trying to comprehend what had just happened. There was a scent leading to my house? Whose scent? Or was it a what? Should I be concerned for my mother's safety? I didn't know what to think. But, eventually, I decided that I would just have to trust Jacob and pray that everything was alright.

My eyes darted towards Maria, completely oblivious to the fact that her soulmate had been in the room not two minutes ago. She was finishing up her conversation with the teacher, visibly frustrated when she approached me.

"Where's Jacob?" She asked as she sat down, her voice tight with aggrivation.

I sighed. "He had a family emergency and had to leave. Is it OK if I get a ride with you and Austin?"

She sighed too, glaring out at nothing. "It'll be just you and me. Austin and I broke up."

"For good, I hope," I murmured, recalling their on-again-off-again relationship.

She nodded. "For good. Normally, we broke up over stupid things like not doing something the other wanted to do. This time I dumped him for good because he cheated on me with that annoying cheerleader with the huge tits." Maria fumed. "And it wasn't like he was subtle. They were making out on the middle of the dance floor! Practically shoving their hook up in my face!"

I rubbed my faced tiredly. "Well good for you."

"Besides," Maria continued. "I felt this change all of a sudden. I could feel how wrong it was, being with Austin. Like I was meant to be with someone else and my instincts were telling me that."

If you only knew, Maria, I thought to myself. Out loud, I said, "Well then, I guess we're in agreement about one thing; prom sucks."

"Yep. Prom fucking sucks."  
>***<p>

**A/N: Have you missed me? Even though I was only gone like a week? Well I missed you all! I hope that prom was what you hoped it would be. ****I've always been a fan of drama filled social events.**

**Did anyone expect Embry to imprint on Maria? What do you think Jacob and Embry were talking about that made them rush off?**

**I updated my profile and added pics of Maria and Katie's prom outfits, along with who I pictured as my characters. So, if you want, check it out!  
><strong>

**R&R, yada, yada, yada...**

**That's it, I guess. See you soon! **


	13. Author's Note

**Don't kill me, don't kill me, don't kill me! Writing this author's note instead of a new chapter is hurting me way more than it's annoying you.**

**I swear I'm not exaggerating when I say that I'm way in over my head at school and that coupled with trying to write a new, very important, chap with writer's block is causing me to want to bang my head against a wall. (I almost did on Monday, just 'cuz it being Monday makes it all that much worse for me.) Anyway, I'm just telling you that be prepared for a little wait for the next chap. I'll try to make it extra long as a way of apologizing.**

**A peace offering, if you will.**

**News involving the story, I'll give you a few spoilers that will hopefully make you hate me less. Next chap involves a bonfire, Embry and Maria finally meeting, and a little bit of fluff for Katie's Mom and Charlie. Maybe I'll throw Dean in just for the hell of it! Who knows!**

**Well, again, I apologize profusely.**

**Please don't kill me!**

**3**

**HBTC**


	14. Chapter 14

Mom had left a note on the counter when I got home saying she was out with Charlie. Since it wasn't that late, I stayed up for a while, reading the same page of Pride and Prejudice over and over as I tried to figure out what was going on with Jacob. I knew he hadn't told me everything about his world. He wanted to ease information on me, not just dump it all and hope I could deal with it-and I agreed with this decision.

Eventually, I went to bed, left with more questions than answers.

The next morning, I got up and got dressed, deciding I would go see Jacob in La Push, if he was done dealing with the problem that had come up last night. It was one of those rare warm days, so I wore a gray cotton shirt that tied slightly below my navel, showing some skin. I paired the shirt with some white-washed jeans and my ratty old Converse.

My mom was asleep in her room when I headed out at around nine. I could hear her soft snoring as I walked passed and tried not to think about whether or not she had a late night. The Green Bomb was obviously desperate to get out of the driveway. It practically purred to life when I put the keys in the ignition.

I was surprised to see a couple other cars parked in front of Jacob's house when I finally arrived. I cut the engine and hopped out, striding towards the door. It opened before I had the chance though, and I was immediately enveloped in Jacob's arms. He squeezed me tightly, knocking the air out of my lungs.

Coughing slightly, I hugged him back, trying to figure out why I could feel the desperation leaking off of him. "What happened? What's wrong?" I asked.

He sighed and released me from the hug, but left an arm wrapped around my waist. "I need to talk to you about something very serious," Jacob informed me.

"I gathered. You wanna go take a walk down the beach?"

He nodded and we started off, the silence heavily hanging over us. My tongue was weighed down, thick as I tried to figure out how to get him to speak. What was it that was so serious we needed to discuss? I was sure it had to do with why he had to leave last night, but I didn't want to ask in case he couldn't give me any answers due to "security reasons."

Finally, he spoke.

"I'm not sure how to approach this, so I'll just come right out and say it. Werewolves aren't the only creatures out there, and definitely not the only ones you should know about."

I nodded. "Then what else is there?"

"Vampires." Jacob stated calmly. When I didn't say anything, he continued, "It's why we're here; to protect the rez from bloodsuckers. When there are vampires nearby, we phase. And since a family of vampires live in Forks, the pack is pretty big."

I raised an eyebrow. "And you're OK with the fact that a family of bloodsucking creatures live right outside the rez?"

"Their family is different from others of their kind. They drink the blood of animals and have so far proved to be safe to be around. You may have met them; the Cullens?"

My eyes widened ever so slightly. That explained a lot. The inhuman beauty, odd behavior and names. The off feeling I got around them. But Dr. Cullen worked with bleeding people everyday, so that obviously proved they had exceptional control. And five of the Cullens went to high school with humans and never slipped up; again, an amazing feat.

Then a particular question popped in my mind.

"What about Bella?" I asked.

He sighed and raked a hand through his short, cropped hair. "Bella fell in love with Edward, the bronze haired one. They loved each other and Bella didn't want to live without him, so she asked to be turned into one of them. Edward fought her on it for a while, but eventually caved," Jacob muttered almost bitterly. "And now she's a bloodsucking leech too."

I didn't say anything for a few beats before asking, "Did you know her?"

This made him sigh again, looking even more stressed. "Before I met you, when I was young and foolish, I thought I was in love with Bella. It stung when she chose Edward over me, but I accepted it eventually. I'll just never understand the choice of becoming one of them."

I could feel my ego slowly deminishing. Was he still bitter? Did he still want her, despite the imprint? Was I some sort of rebound? Had this whole relationship been used as a way to get over her? Each question was like a knife to the heart. I fought the urge to immediately assume that the answer to all those questions was yes.

"Do you...do you still...have feelings for her?" I asked quietly, bracing myself for impact.

I watched as Jacob's face contorted into disbelief. "No!" He nearly shouted as he eagerly reassured me. "No, no, no! Katie, after I met you, I knew that there was no turning back. I could never have feelings for someone other than you."

The reassurances allowed me to breathe again and I was paying apt attention once again. We'd stopped on the beach sometime during the conversation and we were now standing at the edge of the water. The water just barely skimmed the bottom of my shoes.

"Why did you and Embry run off last night?" I asked, changing the subject.

Jacob sighed and seemed equally frustrated by this question as the last one. "There had been a scent bordering La Push for the past couple of weeks. Then, last night, Embry said it lead to your house. We went to check it out and see if we could have the Cullens help us track the vampire down to find out what the fuck it was doing at my imprint's house!" By the end of the explanation, he was hysterical. Part of me registered that having a vampire stalk you was very dangerous, but I couldn't bring myself to care. Right now, I needed to be there for Jacob.

I pressed my face into his chest as I gave him a tight hug, my arms wrapped around his waist. "Hey, everything's going to be fine. I'm here and I'm fine. Nothing bad is going to happen," I assured him.

I could tell he didn't believe me, but he didn't argue, just pressing his lips to my hairline as he embraced me. We just stood there, motionless as we were pulled into our own little world. The problems of the outside world didn't exist, it was just us and our love and happiness.

Until another memory from last night struck me and I jerked back, in hyperactive mode again.

"How's Embry?" I asked eagerly.

My boyfriend (secretly, it thrills me to call him that) laughed. "He's shifting back and forth, emotionally. One minute he'll be going on and on about how gorgeous and perfect Ria is, and the next he's freaking out because of all the messed up scenarios he's formulated that involve her being injured or mortally wounded."

"We need to get them together as soon as possible," I stated firmly.

Jacob smiled. "Our best bet would be to have you and Maria come to the bonfire in a couple days. Billy tells legends and it'll be easier for her to understand if she's heard them." He turned to give me a half smile. "Besides, I want you to meet the rest of the pack."

Nervously, I gulped. What if they didn't like me? I couldn't force Jacob to choose between us like that. His pack meant a lot to him, I could tell from the way he spoke about them.

As if reading my mind, he added, "They'll love you because I do. The one who should be worried is me. The guys will make it their mission to embarrass me as much as possible."

Slightly reassured, I smirked and said, "All the more reason to go."

Jacob grimaced and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "Maybe I should've kept that information to myself..."

I grinned back at him. "Too late now," I said in a sing-song, tucking myself into his side as we continued down the beach. 

**V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V**

As the day of the bonfire drew near, I brought up the subject with a slightly pouty Maria. After she and Austin broke up for good- and they really meant the "for good" part this time -Maria was feeling less attractive and desirable, outraged that Austin bounced back from the break up easily, having some blond bimbo on his arm Monday morning. And it wasn't even the same one she'd caught him with.

"A bonfire?" She asked dubiously the morning of the bonfire.

I nodded. "It'll be fun, I promise. Besides, one of Jacob's friends, Embry, expressed an interest in you."

She perked up at that. "Really? Why? He's never met me!"

"Embry crashed the prom to tell Jacob about his family emergency and saw you. Then Jacob told me Embry kept going on and on about how pretty you were and if he could meet you."

"Are you sure that he won't go all creepy-stalker on me? He's OK?" She asked cautiously. I decided that Embry and I didn't meet under the best of circumstances, and knew that I could trust Jacob's high opinion of him.

I grinned. "Maria, he's great. Very sweet and funny. Not to mention very attractive."

"What kind of attractive?"

"Boyish face, hot model bod."

She smiled and nodded. "OK, if you're sure about him. But what do I wear?" She asked desperately, coming down from her high. "I mean, he's obviously not just some other Austin. Slutty outfit isn't the way to go, showing skin will only make him think I'm a whore."

"Trust me," I assured her, "there's no way Embry would ever think something bad about you."

And with that, she began to rant about clothes and make up and how to impress this new love interest. While I was smiling and nodding in all the right places, I couldn't help but hope she would sense the connection. The pull you felt between you and your soulmate. I mean, after all, she believed in soulmates before I did. Surely she would know pretty quickly that he was the one. Another part of me reminded myself that Maria was a heart breaker. And she had the power to crush Embry with one word. To send him into a downward spiral, not to mention the fact she didn't know she had this power!

A lot of things could go wrong.

But, I pushed my concern aside and willingly helped Maria primp an hour before we had to be in La Push. Even though Jacob's constant assurances had sated my worry, I still felt concerned. My stomach flipped and flopped whenever I thought of meeting his pack, his family.  
>Before I knew it, we were getting into the Green Bomb and driving through Forks towards La Push as the colors in the sky reflected it to be twilight. The witching hour, I thought. Or is that midnight? Whatever. Mindless pondering was my way of coping.<p>

Mom and Charlie were getting cozy on the couch, prepared to start a movie when Maria and I were leaving. Charlie and I had become accustomed to each other's presence since the little talk we had. A silent agreement that said we were cool with seeing each other often because of him and Mom dating. Sometimes he would have dinner with us, amusing me with stories of his funniest arrests or weirdest ones. Other times he'd merely stop by to say hi to Mom and give her a good morning or goodnight kiss.

And when Mom and Charlie weren't acting like lovesick teenagers, they were yaking on the phone late into the night. I swear I've never been so close to buying a gun merely for the purpose of either shooting my mom or myself so the "No, you hang up" repeats would end.

Gah, I can only take so much!

When we arrived at the beach, people were already crowding the area. Food was set out on tables, piled high like it was feeding armies of hundreds and not just a dozen or so people. Then I remembered Jacob's appetite and it made sense. A pack of guys who ate like that? That much food was obviously needed.

Almost immediately, I was swept up into an embrace and familiar strong arms wrapped around me. I inhaled Jacob's musky scent and was sent off into my own little world where it was just me and him. Forever.

"Hey, babe," he said. I gagged at the petname.

"_Please_ don't call me that. Mark called me that and it was degrading and overused. He used it especially when he wanted something."

Jacob's eyes flashed at the mention of my ex. Luckily Maria picked up on the animosity quickly, so she changed the subject.

"So, I hear you have a hot friend interested in me and my girls," she said, gesturing to her chest. Jacob blushed slightly at her crassness before turning, I assumed, to search for Embry. I spotted him before Jacob did and told Maria to wait here while I jogged over to prepare Embry to meet his soulmate.

He was engaged in a conversation with Jared, one of the guys who had to brief me on the pack after I found out. They both looked at me questioningly when I practically tackled Embry.

"Prepare to wish you had kissed my ass the moment you met me," I informed Embry. "I have brought the love of your life, your reason for life, your soulmate, your one and only, your-"

"_We get it_!" Jared interjected.

I glared and huffed. "Fine. I brought you goddamn imprint, OK? So c'mon!"

It was literally like watching someone turn to stone. Embry's muscles locked up, his eyes glazed over, and he barely moved, even to breathe. He was as stiff as a board and looked absolutely terrified. I'd expected him to bound over to Maria and stake his claim by peeing on her leg or something. Looks like I'd have to comfort a terrified wolf. What a wonderful way to spend my night.

Sighing, I stretched my arms up to grab his shoulders and turned him to face me. "Embry. You are strong and handsome and, for some reason I can't comprehend, people like you. As long as you treat her like a queen, because if you don't I will castrate you, and are your supposedly charming self, everything will be fine."

Jared popped up from behind Embry and said with a wide grin, "That is the most interesting and amusing pep talk I've ever heard."

"Well," I said. "I'm an interesting and amusing person. Now, if you'll excuse us..." As I trailed off, I grabbed Embry's arm and began to drag him over to Maria. The wind had picked up slightly and Maria was at an angle to where her hair was blocking any view of her face. But as soon as the wind blew it out of her face and she was in full view, Embry gasped ever so slightly. Ah, the joys of seeing your soulmate up close, I mused mentally.

As we got closer, Maria noticed us and her eyes widened as she took in Embry with her eyes. I began the introductions immediately. "Maria, this is Embry. Embry, meet Maria."

They just kind of stood there, taking in each other with stunned expressions. I sighed and Jacob muttered, "This is the part where you say hi."

"Hi," Embry said dumbly in a deep voice.

A faint blush tinted Maria's cheeks as she replied, "Hello."

I guess he remembered my advice because Embry gave her a lazy smile and asked, "You wanna go get something to drink with me?" Offering his arm to her as he did, mind you. At least he knows how to behave politely around some people when he first meets them, I thought, still a little miffed over that whole situation. I'd meant what I said about castrating him if he was so much as a hair out of line.

Maria gave him a wide, white smile and looped her arm through his. "Sounds great." As they headed towards a cooler with drinks, she turned back to give me an appreciative smile. I merely nodded and watched the pair with a slight grin. Maria deserved happiness. And, even though he was still an annoying furball, Embry could provide that happiness.

Warm arms enveloped me and I leaned against Jacob's hard chest as he rested his chin on the top of my head. "Pray to God he doesn't screw this up," he murmured lightly. I chuckled.

"I warned him before we headed over. Threats of castration were said and I think he got the message," I answered, smiling.

He pressed his lips to my head. "That's my girl."

I pulled away to grip his hand in mine and give him a teasing grin. "Don't think match making has distracted me from meeting the rest of the pack and learning as many embarrassing stories as possible."

Suddenly, a deep voice said from behind me, "We'll be happy to oblige." I jumped back around to see Sam and a few other guys behind him, all grinning like maniacs. I recovered from the shock of the sudden appearance and smiled back.

"Good," I stated firmly. "I could use a little ammo in the humiliation department."

Jacob wrapped an arm around my waist. "Let's start the introductions first, Katie. Then you can grill them all you like," he said. "The guys you haven't met are Quil, Paul, Seth, Collin, and Brady. Seth's sister, Leah, is also a part of the pack, but I have no clue where the hell she is."

I raised my eyebrows up in surprise. "Girls can phase, too?" I asked curiously.

"Before sis, we thought they couldn't." Seth said with a boyish grin. "I always knew she was one of a kind."

All the guys had a similar physique to Jacob and Embry's. Tall, tan, and muscled with dark hair and eyes. All very handsome and all reeking of testosterone. Their ages seemed to very, though.

"Um, cool, I guess. Well, I'm Katie, in case Jacob hasn't been pining and obsessing over me constantly like I ordered him to." Thankfully, they all laughed at my poor joke and my body sagged with relief, all the tension leaving my body.

We talked for a little while, the guys mostly making it their goal of the night to embarrass Jacob as much as possible. For example, they imitated Jacob when we went through that rough patch at the beginning.

"Oh, woe is me, how will I live without her?"

"She has such pretty hair!"

"I love her smile!"

"What if she gets hit by a car?"

"What if a crazed, murderous clown comes after her?"

The last one had me shaking with laughter as I tried to keep my amusement to myself. After my laughter was mostly under control, I turned to a blushing Jacob and raised an eyebrow.

"'Crazed, murderous _clown_?'"

"Hey," he defended. "They're really creepy."

I rolled my eyes and kissed his cheek. "You're so lucky that cute face hides a complete madman on the inside."

My statement was followed by a chorus of "aww's" that had Jacob glaring as he wrapped his arms around me protectively. The guys were all wiping fake tears from their eyes and I couldn't help but chuckle. The conversation was light for the most part and while the guys argued, I searched for Maria. I knew that I could trust Embry with her, but I just wanted to be sure she wasn't overwhelmed or anything like that.

I spotted her and Embry talking as they sat side by side in front of the bonfire. As I turned back to look at the group in front of me, a girl came rushing over. She was very beautiful, with copper colored skin, dark eyes and hair, and full lips. What shocked me was the scars that ran down her face and neck. Whatever had happened had really hurt her, but I knew that staring at her was rude and insulting, so I merely smiled at the new person.

"This is Emily, Sam's imprint and wife," Jacob told me. "They just got married last summer."

Emily smiled at me, the action bringing this new light to her eyes. She was beautiful, very beautiful indeed. "It's wonderful to meet the infamous Katrina."

"Katie," I corrected smoothly.

"Katie," she echoed before grinning again. "Would you like to come get some food with me? If we don't hurry now, the guys won't leave any food for us; soulmate or no soulmate."

Accepting her offer, we linked arms and headed over to the table. I paused when I spotted Maria again and realized she'd never really been properly invited. "I hope you don't mind that I brought my friend, Maria, with me."

Emily shook her head. "No, it's good that you did," she murmured almost forlornly as she watched Embry and Maria giggling and talking cozily. "I haven't seen Embry smile like that in months. His mom never knew that he had phased and immediately jumped to the worst conclusions possible. After she kicked him out when he finished high school, he was never the same. He thought of phasing, this entire ordeal, as his own personal hell. That he was some sort of monster if it caused him to lose the only family he had."

I felt my gut tighten painfully at her words. That was awful! How could his mother just...just kick him out like that? Cut off all contact merely because of rumors she'd heard? The entire situation sounded horrible.

"That's...tragic," I choked out, the empathy I was feeling made speaking a difficult task.

She nodded, before smiling softly. "But, after he met Maria, he was that boy I remember when he first phased. So full of life and happiness. I nearly cried over the sudden change," Emily said. "It's wonderful you brought her. Now, let's eat."

***

I'm ashamed to say I was dozing during the majority of the legends. While everyone else seemed completely entranced by the stories, I could barely keep my eyes open. And not because it was boring, because it really wasn't. It was because Billy's voice, raggedy and gruff, was very soothing. The way he told the stories was enchanting and had brought a wave of drowsiness over me.

Luckily, Maria was paying rapt attention. Especially when the story of The Third Wife came. While I was kind of in and out of it, Maria was looking hearbroken by the end of it. During the legends, Billy included one that involved mentioning imprinting to some degree. Not enough to be too obvious to Maria, though.

Jacob nudged my side as the last legend came to a close and I tried to fight back a big yawn. Everyone began getting up and saying their goodbyes. I watched as Maria and Embry smiled at each other tentatively. Quietly, they exchanged phone numbers. Maria started to leave and head over to me to leave when she stopped herself, a contemplative expression on her face.

She must of made her decision because she turned and sprinted up to a confused Embry. Bouncing up on the ball of her foot, she pressed her lips to his quickly and firmly before bouncing back. Both looked stunned by her sudden action, but thoroughly pleased.

I turned to Jacob, feeling my face fall as I realized I had to go home. "I'll miss you," I told him, pouting slightly.

He kissed me softly and then smiled down at me. "I'll see you tomorrow. I promise. And if I don't come through, you have the right to make every dog joke you can think of."

I chuckled and kissed his cheek. "Bye, Fido, see you tomorrow."

Maria approached me and we headed back to my car. At first, neither of us said anything. I'm guessing we were too overwhelmed with love to say anything. Eventually, as the drive home dragged on, Maria finally spoke.

"Thank you."

I did a double take and raised an eyebrow. "For what?"

"Bringing me," she murmured softly. "He's perfect. Everything I could ever want and more. And I'm glad you introduced us."

"I figured it was a good match," I replied, equally soft.

She shook her head quickly. "No, it's so much more than that. I know you think I'm crazy for believing in all that. Fate, karma, whatever. But I truly believe that Embry and I were made for each other. It physically hurts me to be away from him right now and...and I'm so freaked out as I think about the possibility that we, Embry and I, may have never met. And I know it's so soon and I probably sound like how I did in middle school when I had my flavors of the week, but I think I'm already falling hard and fast for Embry Call.

"So, thanks."

I silently accepted her thanks and was relieved that she was so accepting of what she felt. Hopefully she'd be that open minded when she found out about the whole wolf thing.

And the rest of the ride was like that. Peaceful as the love for our respective spouses radiated off of my best friend and I.

**V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V**

**A/N: I just wanted to thank everyone for the supportive reviews! I was expecting like to find all the readers with torches and pitchforks in hand, ready to hunt me down, or something to that extent. Hopefully, this chapter was worth the wait.**

**Since you all were so wonderful and such, I've decided to spoil the next chapter a little teensy bit. So, as you know, Charlie and Zelda, Katie's mom, are getting pretty close. (And I'm not trying to be a pervert when I say that.) So, I decided that what do most couples do when they're getting serious? Introduce their family members to each other. And what does that mean? Bella and possibly Edward in the next chapter! (Some of you are like, "YAY!" and others are probably like, "This is what I get for being patient and nice? *whips out pitchfork*)**

**Basically, the next chapter will include a very awkward dinner that will definitely include Charlie, Zelda, Katie, and Bella. I'm thinking of throwing Jacob and Edward in there just for the sake of making it even more awkward. What do you think? Also, do you like the fact that Maria's falling so fast for Embry? I just kind of thought it fit since she was the one raving and ranting about soulmates even before she met Embry. Part of me wanted to make it ironic and have Maria think that she and Embry were completely wrong for each other, but I decided that irony and partial writer's block do not mix.**

**Well, that's about all...**

**Bye!**

**- HBTC**


	15. Author's Note Deux

**A/N: As you can tell by lack of updating for over a month and no new chapter following this author's note, I have nothing good to say. I could list all these excuses about why I haven't uploaded recently, but I'm not. You don't care and I wouldn't either if I was you. I'm just going to be honest: I'm kind of stuck right now in Breakable. I have no clue what the fuck is going to happen next and I have extreme writer's block.**

**As readers of this story, you deserve to know that. You also deserve to know that I have been seriously considering giving up Breakable or, at the very least, putting it on HIATUS until I figure out why I suddenly have nothing to write. If you have any ideas or suggestions, plot-wise or how to get rid of the writer's block, I beg of you to put something in a PM or review. It would be greatly appreciated, I really don't want to have to stop this story; temporarily or for good.**

**I'm sorry and I really hope that I will be able to continue the story for you.**

**Best wishes,**

**HTBC**

**P.S. I am completely fine with you chewing me out over this. No hard feelings if you do.**


	16. Chapter 15

I'm not sure what tipped me off that Charlie and my mom were becoming very serious, very fast. Maybe it was the fact that they were together constantly. Or how they acted like lovesick puppies when they were apart.

But I think the real "Aha!" moment was when they sat me down and said that they wanted to have a formal dinner with me, them, Bella, and Edward. A way of bringing their daughters (and a son-in-law) together. And a step like this seemed to be the one before marriage.

And the thought of marriage frightened me. I mean, I'm not saying that I think Charlie will pull the BS move my dad did. It's just, I worry that Mom's rushing into this and that this love of theirs will fizzle out fast.

So, here I was. Sitting at the kitchen table as Mom and Charlie tried to convince me that the dinner thing was a good idea.

"Bella's very eager to meet you," Charlie said, which told me that the cliff diving incident had been forgotten and that I was to pretend like we'd never met before.

"She's a very nice girl," Mom added and then grinned lecherously. "And she's married into quite the gene pool."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm aware, mother. I did go to school with her and her husband and his siblings."

She shrugged. "No harm in acknowledging what most people think about the Cullens."

Huffing slightly, I tried to carry this conversation more out with Charlie because obviously my mother was too busy drooling over the Cullen family. "Look, it's not that I'm against the idea. I just feel like, eventually, I'll turn into the third wheel. I mean, you two are newly gotten together and they are newly weds. And I'm the teenager whose stomach cannot take the thought of listening to two couples act all lovey-dovey over each other for the entire night."

"Bring Jacob, then. He and Bella haven't had a chance to hang out in a while. I'm sure it'll be nice for him as well," Charlie suggested.

Desperate, I didn't really think his words through and immediately agreed. But then the idea set in and I remembered Jacob's confession that he'd once been in love with Bella. And she'd obviously at least considered being with him (how could you not?). So, basically, I'd just set up the most awkward dinner in the history of dinners.

Wow, Katie, nice one.

***

"I can't believe I agreed to this," I muttered under my breath, pouting at my reflection in the mirror.

Maria was spread out on my bed, hastily texting Embry while biting her lip. She was completely unphased by the situation. I'd given her the general outline of the situation (Jacob used to love Bella, Bella kind of felt the same way but chose her current husband, and now we were all having dinner together) and she thought I was freaking out over nothing.

"Clearly, he loves you," was all she'd said before going in must-focus-on-Embry-only mode.

Back to the present, I was scrutinizing my outfit. Mom had said semi-formal (I still find it a very vague term) and I was hoping what I was wearing qualified. I had on a strapless, royal blue dress that stopped just at my knees with a black cardigan over it and black flats. That wasn't too dressy, right? Ugh, I had no idea!

Luckily, the door bell rang and I knew that it was Jacob. No more time to obsess over the outfit.

What had surprised me more than my own willingness to go was Jacob's. He actually seemed kind of excited. I wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not. I told myself that he just wanted to be able to hang out with Bella again, old feelings aside. Although, that didn't stop that anxious feeling from appearing in my stomach when I thought about tonight and watching the two interact.

As per usual, Jacob informed me that I looked beautiful (because it was a little thing he loved to do, God knows why) and then we slid into the back of the car as Charlie and Mom chatted about this and that in the front. We were meeting Bella and Edward at a restaurant in Port Angeles. La Bella Italia.

The decorations at the restaurant were fairly simple. A few outdoor seating areas outside the restaurant and the windows and doors were framed by twinkling lights. Inside, the place was dimly lit with nice table cloths and candles in the middle of the tables.

When Charlie gave the hostess his last name, she informed him that the where the rest of our "party" was here and pointed out Edward and Bella, who were seated off next to a window, talking to each other intimately. I knew they could hear us already, and already knew we were here, but I had a feeling the conversation was for appearances mostly.

As we walked over, I felt Jacob slip his arm around my waist and grip my hip with his hand, tucking me into his side. I glanced up with a raised eyebrow. If this was his Neanderthalic way of "staking his claim", I'll slap him, I thought, suspicious of the sudden action. Stuff like that just set Women's Rights back a hundred years.

"Hey, Bells," Charlie greeted, hugging his daughter, before shaking his son-in-law's hand stiffly. I didn't really know what that was about, but decided to just ignore it.

The introductions were brief before we all sat down. I ended up being sat in between Edward and Jacob. Of course this did loads for my self esteem as far as my height goes. I'm on the high end of the height spectrum for girls my age, but one dinner between those two and I'll never recover.

"So, Jake, how's the mechanic business going?" Bella asked as we looked over the menu. _Jake?_ I thought before smiling to myself. _I wonder how Jacob would feel about me becoming more inclined to call him Jakey..._

Bella and Jacob seemed to be getting along just fine. And I wasn't sure how I felt about that. I mean, I'm not saying that I wanted them to start yelling and arguing and looking like they were ready to kill each other because I know having Bella as a friend again would make Jacob happy. However, no girl can be excited or feel elated at the thought of their boyfriend being so focused and intent on getting along with another girl. I'm pretty sure it's a rule or something like that.

Edward seemed to be equally at odds with his feelings about how they were getting on so well. Which is why we ended up striking up a conversation.

At first, it'd just been some off handed comment I thought I'd made to myself. I think I muttered something about being worried my mom might get a little frisky after a glass of wine or two and him laughing at that. But, slowly, we started talking.

"I'm assuming Forks High School is as equally monotonous as when I was there," he murmured to me after we'd ordered. (The poor girl taking our order had nearly had a heart attack at the sight of two gorgeous men at the same table. I was fairly sure she'd hurried away to try to recover in the back.)

I smiled. "Pretty much. Although, Forks High has not forgotten you. There's still a few girl's bathroom stalls with a wall that is a complete shrine in your honor. Complete with the sexual fantasies they'd be eager to try with you and everything." He grimaced at my words, which only made me laugh loudly, earning a few odd looks from the people around us.

"Ah, yes. Teenage girls do tend to have...ahem...one track minds about that sort of thing," Edward said, attempting to be tactful with his words.

"Yeah," I replied. "I'm surprised that guys are the ones accused of being perverts and not girls."

"Well, the male species isn't subtle about their...wandering thoughts. Women say things like that behind closed doors," he informed me.

"Or write them on bathroom stalls," I added and this time he grinned widely, flashing me a sight of his bright white teeth.

"Yes, especially on stall doors."

I was grateful when our meals came, though. Mom needed to eat something because her hand kept wandering to places it shouldn't in public, if Charlie's red face was anything to go by. And while everyone found her actions amusing, I did not. People thought she just liked to let loose. Have fun and live for the day. But I knew for a fact that the divorce had effected her self esteem horribly and alcohol became her best friend for a small period of time.

That's why I hated it when she got drunk. She only made me remember how broken she'd been and how Dean and I'd had to pick up the pieces at such a young age.

"Mom," I muttered quietly. "Maybe you've had enough to drink for tonight." I moved her wine glass out of reach and attempted to act like I was being light hearted about the entire situation. Most of them fell for it. Except Edward and I didn't know why. He kept glancing between me and my mother and it was unnerving. Like he knew about our past and the dark moments that constantly reared their ugly heads in my mind.

She reached out, trying to take it back. "Come on, sweetheart, it's only one teensy, weensy little glass." I could already tell she was on the heavier side of tipsy.

I turned to our waitress as the food arrived. "Can she have a glass of water?" The girl nodded, now less flustered than before, and walked away, hips swaying in a way that was no doubt supposed to "tempt" Edward or Jacob.

"Oh, come on, honey," Mom whined. "I only wanted one more glass."

I snapped before I could help myself. "Well, with you, one glass turns into another and another. And then I'm having to deal with the consequences of you being so-so fucking careless!" I snarled back. The glazed, hazy look faded from her eyes and she straightened her shoulders. Her face had turned into a cold mask and I realized that I'd crossed a line. Regret overcame me quickly and I opened my mouth to apologize, but Mom held her hand up to silence me.

"I'm going to the bathroom," she said, her voice gravelly with tears. I could see a few spill down her face as she rushed away.

Everyone turned to stare. Most looked confused, while accusation simmered in Charlie's eyes. I could see the disappointment coming off of him in waves. "I-I'm sorry, I just-"

"Don't tell me," Charlie interrupted. "Tell your mother."

Thoroughly ashamed of myself, I got up and headed to the bathroom after my mom. Inside, I heard sniffling coming from the stall at the very end. The largest one. It was dimly lit inside and the multitude of shadows made it hard to tell if anyone else was in there. When I managed to see that no one else was in the bathroom, I called out tentatively, "Mom?"

At first, I got no reply. But, eventually, she cracked the door open slightly to where I could see half of her face, the rest hidden behind the stall door. Her face was red and puffy from crying and my heart ached at the thought that I'd caused this.

"I'm sorry," I told her. "It was wrong of me to embarrass you like that and make accusations and imply things that weren't true."

She let out a breathy laugh and came out of the stall, wrapping her arms around me immediately. "It's alright, Katie. I did have a problem once and I should've known that letting you see me like that at such a young age would come back to bite me in the ass."

We stood there for a moment, hugging it out, when an elderly woman came into the restroom. She glanced at us with wide eyes before muttering at what she thought was a low tone, "That's quite the age difference!"

I snickered under my breath while my mom rolled her eyes and we headed back to the table. Everyone seemed to relax as soon as they saw that the air was cleared between us. Charlie gave me his slight nod of approval before wrapping his arm around Mom, letting her lean into his side.

"Is everything alright now?" Jacob whispered to me. I smiled at him, nodding, hoping that he would stop doting on me because, frankly, it was fucking annoying.

Bella decided that it was time for the two daugthers to get to know one another and began asking me different questions about myself. "How's school?" She asked politely.

I shrugged. "Same old, same old. Graduation is in like two weeks, so that's good. Then I get to spend the next three months hanging out, so that should be nice."

"Oh, that's good. You're heading to Sarah Lawrence in the fall, right?" She asked.

Jacob looked at me questioningly. "Sarah Lawrence? Where's that?"

I gulped. Shit! I thought. I'd never really brought up my college plans with Jacob. We didn't really discuss the future, our future, very often. And not because he didn't want to. I was the hesitant party as far as that goes.

Clearing my throat slightly, I muttered under my breath, "New York..."

"What? I didn't hear you," Jacob told me, still completely happy and unaware.

I grimaced as I said a little louder, "New York..."

His eyes went wide and I could see his hands curl into fists while his arms shook. Luckily, Bella quickly distracted Charlie and Mom so they wouldn't notice Jacob's mini fit.

I placed a hand on his arm. "Please, calm down. We'll discuss this in private, later. I promise." I assured him.

My physical contact stilled his shaking and he seemed to be calmer than before, but I could see the hardness in his eyes.

"Definitely," he said tensely.

Conversation was fairly smooth after that. I kept my hand firmly locked in Jacob's the entire time, though. I didn't want to risk another blow up and I knew that me being so close to him would remind him not to lose control. Mom and Bella adored each other and got along great. Evidently Bella's mother, Renee, was almost exactly like my mom and the similiarities between them was something that made Bella get along with Mom almost immediately.

Edward was very polite and nice to Mom as well. Even when she made a comment or two about their sex life and all the "fun" they must be having now that they're married and have their own place.

Finally, the night came to an end and we went our seperate ways. Jacob was tense and silent the entire car ride. The sun was setting and he just stared out the window, the suns final rays illuminating his stiff expression and making my gut tighten anxiously. Mom and Charlie were blissfully unaware and talked about how great the dinner was. They were wrapped up in their own little world, so I didn't have to chime in very often to keep them from noticing how tense me and my boyfriend were.

When we arrived at home, I told Mom that Jacob and I were going to go out to First Beach to spend a little time together. She accepted this, only asking I have my cell with me, before dragging Charlie inside to participate in activities I don't want to think about. Again, during the drive, Jacob didn't speak. The silence was smothering and overwhelmed me. I didn't know what I was supposed to do.

We got out of the Green Bomb and sat on the hood together, just watching the horizon in silence. The wind picked up slightly, blowing my hair into my face, hiding any tears welling up in my eyes, and for that I was thankful.

"When did you plan on telling me?" Jacob asked in a hollow tone.

I sighed. "Soon. I just didn't know how to ease the subject on you. Dumping it on you like that wasn't my plan."

"Yeah, well, obviously you didn't get to follow through with this supposed plan, so what are we going to do about you being across the country for months at a time?" He demanded angrily.

I glared at him, tears forgotten. "I was going to tell you. I just needed time to figure out how," I told him, hurt that he would imply that I would decieve him like that.

Jacob scoffed. "Oh, I'm sure. When, exactly, were you going to carry out this 'plan?'" He asked bitterly. "Next week? Next month? The day you left for New York?" By this time, his voice was raised to where he was yelling at me.

"How dare you! I was planning on telling you as soon as I knew that in that situation, you wouldn't behave like an immature, petulant three year-old!" I yelled back.

"Immature? I think I have every right to be upset, Katie! You are leaving me without so much as a look back!"

I glared. "I'm not leaving you, Jacob! I made plans to go to Sarah Lawrence before I met you. I was planning on working something out."

"I find that hard to believe!"

"And why is that?" I demanded, now royally pissed off.

"Face it, Katie, you've always doubted us and our relationship. You're just waiting for an excuse to sever all ties with me and you know it!" He shouted at me, his face and eyes conveying how much he believed what he was saying.

I couldn't breathe. My world was slowly crumbling around me. He thought that I didn't care. That I was the "love 'em and leave 'em" type. Did he think so little of me? Did he truly believe that I had no faith in us? That I didn't plan on us having a lengthy relationship?

Tears ran down my face and I could see him starting to regret what he said. Too late for that now. My cheeks and eyes ached, the crying slowly draining me of any strength. I felt like I'd been gutted and left a shell of the

girl I once was.

"Please, stop," I whispered, my voice cracking with each word. "Y-You don't mean that..."

He shook his head. "Part of me does, Katie. And-and I have every right to have some sort of say in what you do! I want to be able to have control over what's going on in my life!" Jacob yelled at me, pacing as he ranted and raved. I didn't like going through this kind of pain. The kind where I felt as if I'd been scrubbed raw and I felt everything all at once. It was too much, too many feelings to take in. I just wanted it all to go away.

But a fire blazed within me and I refused to just whimper and brood through this entire argument. "You have no right to control me, Jacob!" I shouted back at him, feeling that familiar rage build up inside of me.

"Like hell I don't!" He replied, equally loud and fierce. "You are my fucking imprint and I have every fucking right to say, 'There is no way in hell you're doing that!'"

I laughed humorlessly. "You may have imprinted on me, but that doesn't give you the right to control everything I do. I'm not some sort of submissive ditz who will do whatever you say because you say it!"

"Clearly!" Jacob roared. "And I have every right to object when it effects me!"

"You're so fucking selfish, Jacob! Don't you even want to consider that New York might be what's best for me?" I demanded angrily. I was ready to kill him if he didn't learn to behave like an adult.

"It's not what's best if I'm away from you! You are staying here!" He said, like stating it like that would make it final.

I shook my head and gave a sardonic smirk. "Do you honestly think that forbidding me from going is going to stop me?" I demanded before my smirk morphed into a look of fury. "Go to hell, Jacob." I started to storm towards my car, ready to leave his ass there.

His next words stopped me, though.

"So, now what? Are you just ending everything like this? Are you...are you leaving me?" His voice had lost it's edge and now just sounded weak and vulnerable.

I paused, my hand gripping the handle of the door. "No, I'm not leaving you. Not for good, at least."

"Do you still love me? Please say you still love me..." he begged.

I sighed. "Yes," I murmured before adding, "but part of me wishes I didn't."

And with that, I left him standing on the beach, looking thoroughly broken.

I didn't break down when I got home. I didn't break down when I got out of the car. I didn't break down when I entered an empty house. I didn't cry when I went to my room.

I cried when I laid my head on the pillow, ready to go to sleep, and everything that had been said during my fight with Jacob caught up with me. I cried when I remembered how much his words cut me to the bone. I cried when I heard a pained wolf howl in the night, knowing exactly who it was. I cried when Jingle curled up on my bed and attempted comfort me in his gruff, Jingle-way. And I cried every time I woke up during the night because every dream I had revolved around him and I couldn't escape.

By the next morning, I was drained and depressed. Mom didn't comment on my new attitude and I didn't comment on Charlie's presence at the breakfast table. He said goodbye to us both, kissed Mom at the door, and then headed to La Push. He was going fishing with Billy today since it was Sunday. I tried to forget that there was a possibility Charlie would run into Jacob. I also ignored the fact that I wished he would see him, just to see if Jacob would ask about me.

But Mom couldn't take my moping anymore by mid-morning.

"Okay, what happened?" She asked, holding Jingle in her arms as we sat on the couch watching America's Next Top Model, season 13. We both agreed that Laura and Nicole were our favorites and that Erin is annoying, while Kara was a jealous bitch with a man jaw. Yeah, we get really into it.

My posture stiffened defensively and I gave her my most ignorant look. "I don't know what you're talking about," I muttered, pretending to focus on the TV.

I didn't have to look at her to know she was looking at me with a disbelieving expression. Her face practically screamed, _"Bitch,_ please_! Don't lie to me!"_ But I, again, pretended to remain oblivious.

"Honey, I am an expert when it comes to fighting with your spouse. I know what a sulking, angry girlfriend looks like. So, fess up or I'll call Maria and have her weasel it out of you while she simultaneously texts the love of her life, thereby making you feel more shitty than you already do."

I glared at her. "Gee, thanks, Mom. You're so supportive and kind-hearted," I muttered sarcastically. Jingle hissed at me in Mom's defense, immediately taking her side. I hissed right back, mentally warning him that, if he could read minds like I thought he could, what I would do to him would leave him forever scarred.

Either Jingle isn't as intelligent as I thought or he chose to ignore my warning, because he continued to hiss at me as menacingly as he could manage for an overweight cat.

"Spill," Mom ordered, taking my attention away from the devil's spawn.

I sighed, eyes locked in front of me so she wouldn't see the pain bubbling to the surface. "We had a fight about my future. He tried to take control of everything without letting me say my peace. He broke my heart and I feel like shit."

"Because of the heartbreak?"

I shook my head, tears ready fall. "No. I feel like shit because, even though he destroyed my heart, I still want him. I still yearn for him to be here with me. And if he walked through the door right now, I'd forgive him before he even got out a hello." Against my will, I let out a soft sob. "God, I'm so fucking weak. Crying like a child over something so stupid as a fight with my boyfriend. A fucking break up shouldn't make me feel like my world is over!"

My mother opened her arms to me and I threw myself at her, burying my face in her throat as I cried like a baby. I let everything out and tried to control my countless sobs. But Mom just let me cry, stroking my hair as I attempted to calm down.

"Honey, it usually does feel like the end of the world when you feel like your losing the one you love. But, if worst comes to worst and you do break up, life will go on. Slowly, but surely, you'll love again and those bright days filled with warmth will be here again." She pulled away to look me in the eye. "But, Katie, that doesn't mean you should throw in the towel. Don't give up so easily, babygirl. Just try to cool off for a few days and then go and see Jacob when you've both had time to clear your heads."

We didn't speak after that. Just stayed curled up on the couch, watching the drama of being a model as my body stopped shaking and my tears dried. Mom was right. I just needed to think things over and then everything would be fine again.

Or so I hoped.  
>***<p>

**A/N: Well, hello there, Angst! Nice to see you again!**

**It's also nice to be back. I know it's been a while since I've updated, but, as I said in that particularly depressing author's note, I was suffering from extreme writer's block. Thanks for the supportive reviews and I'd love to know what you thought of the chapter! I tried to make it extra long as an apology for taking so long to update!**

**Also, I meant to have more interactions between Jacob and Edward. Ya know, a glare-down of some sorts. But I decided that it wouldn't fit in with what was going on in the rest of the chapter.**

**Well, that's it!**

**Bye!**

**HBTC**


	17. Chapter 16

Things didn't change very much the following week. I moped and acted like the angsty teenager I was supposed to be. I figured since Jacob never called it meant he didn't want to. Maybe this imprinting thing wasn't as strong as he claimed it was.

Well, it certainly was strong for me. I went from slightly pissed on Monday morning to "Oh, the world hates me!" on Friday. The dramatic change was enough to get Maria to come over to my house that Friday afternoon, her makeover travel kit in hand.  
>While I'd been counting the days until graduation when I began high school, now I was dreading it. That meant I would be counting the days until I went to Sarah Lawrence. My used-to-be dream school now made me nauseous at the thought of leaving. All because of some stubborn idiot who was the reason my week had sucked so much.<p>

Maria was insisting that taking me out to Port Angeles with her and Embry would make me feel better for some reason. That I would be glad I went in the end. Yeah, I could see the headline now: Teenage Girl Grateful for Being Third Wheel.  
>But I was too depressed to argue. I just sat still while she poked and prodded me with different make up utensils and told me what to do. I didn't protest to anything she did, just let her attack my face with God-knows-what.<p>

She picked out a fairly nice outfit for me to wear. A navy blue dress with a layer of lace over it. The sleeves were elbow length and a thin, black, leather belt was wrapped around the waist. Over it was a thin black sweater, coupled with navy flats and a black purse.

Embry came and picked us up in his car, a pathetic looking pick-up truck. I knew it was true love when Maria didn't seem phased by this car at all. Not even a little bit.

The ride to Port Angeles was as awkward as I thought it would be. Maria and Embry tried to get me to join their conversation, but eventually gave up after ten to fifteen minutes of me giving them blank looks to every question they asked me.

Now, when we arrived to the restaurant we were going to eat at, Maria's shifty behavoir should've set me off. The way she kept glancing around the room as we sat down. But, oh no, I remained blissfully unaware. It wasn't until when the waitress came over and asked for our drink order and Maria replied, "We're waiting for someone," did I piece their plot together.

Oh, hell no.

That fucking bitch.

My eyes widened for a second before narrowing into tiny slits, letting her know that I understood now. "I'm leaving," I muttered, starting to get up.

"You have no way to get home, dipshit. So sit down and shut up." Maria only acted like a mega-bitch when she was dead serious, so I did as she said, but made a point of looking extremely pissed off as I sat here.

Suddenly, a chill ran down my spine and goosebumps popped up on my arms and I knew that he was here. In that very room. And it made me want to run and hide. I didn't bother to turn around when I saw Maria wave someone over here. I didn't look up from my lap when said person sat down next to me-a little too close, I might add.

I didn't look up until I heard his deep voice say, "Hello, Katie."

Half of me wanted to kiss his beautiful face and refuse to let go. The other half wanted to use fork to stab him in the thigh. I ended up compromising and instead chose to say nothing at all. But that jackass already could tell my resolve to stay angry was weakened, I could see it as his eyes brightened with a new arrogant edge.

Did I mention he's a jackass?

When the waitress returned, her face lit up at the sight of Jacob. She walked a little slower, making her swaying hips overly obvious as she sauntered over. I fought the urge to gag and felt an particularly painful wave of nausea when she tried to "secretly" unbutton the top two buttons of her blouse.

Subtle, lady, real subtle.

"Ma'am," my best friend/person I was ready to kill said, "we just had a family emergency come up, so I'm afraid it's just those two. Sorry!" She then stood and dragged Embry out of the restaurant with her, only turning back to give me a wink and a thumbs up.

I would so get her back for this.

Gracie, our waitress, (I'm surprised I bothered to look for her nametag) seemed slightly stunned by Maria's random exit, but brightened when she realized that meant no competition (in her mind) for Jacob's attention. "So," she said, her voice deeper than I remember it being before he arrived, "what can I get for you? See anything you might want a taste of?"

Jacob chuckled and replied flirtily, "I don't know, I see something I like quite a bit."

She giggled, the sound high and painful to my eardrums.

"I'll have a water," I muttered, already happy to leave. Gracie seemed stunned, as if she'd just noticed I was there, but had the decency to acknowledge she'd heard my drink request.

"I'll have water, too...Gracie," Jacob murmured, elongating the waitress's name more than necessary. She giggled again and left to get our drinks.

Jackass.

I fought the urge to punch him in the face and stared at him stonily when he turned to face me. Before he even opened his mouth, I interrupted him.

"Jacob, what the hell are you doing here?" I asked.

He sighed, looking less like the jackass from earlier, but I was still tempting to hit him in the face. "Because I hoped that you had forgiven me over that whole college incident." He said the word with passionate disdain and I rolled my eyes.

"Really? 'Cause it seemed more like you were here to piss me off and flirt with the waitress," I replied sharply. My words caused a smirk to spread across his face.

"Are you jealous, Katie?"

I sighed, trying to expell any part of me that was telling me that killing him was alright for this situation. "Look, I don't have to deal with this." I threw my napkin off my lap and stood to leave. "Should've known that this was a mistake. Always is."

I was about halfway to the door before hands gripped me by the waist and pulled me back to the table. He forced me back into my seat, eyes pleading for me to listen to him.

"I'm sorry, alright? I was just flirting with Tracy-"

"I think her name's Gracie, actually..."

"Whatever. The point is, I only did it to get a rise out of you."

I sighed and mutter sarcastically, "Yeah, because trying to piss of your ex is such a wise plan..."

Jacob winced at the term "ex", but smartly chose not to comment on it. "It would only piss you off if you cared about me. Jealous, are we?"

I rolled my eyes, arms crossed over my chest. "Jacob, we've established that I care about you. Doesn't mean I'm not pissed off at you, though."

He nodded. "I can accept a loving, but very pissed off relationship."

Then I did the most stupidass thing ever. I said the first thought that popped into my head. "Well, I never would've gotten pissed off if you hadn't been such a controlling bastard!"

Instead of looking angry, Jacob looked stunned and then almost resigned as his eyes conveniently didn't meet mine.

"I know," he murmured quietly.

I sighed, now on a roll. "I mean, seriously, Jacob, what the hell were you thinking? First, you accused me of essentially leading you on. Then, you tried to tell me what to do. And finally, to close off this parade of shitty behavior, you basically told me that you had the right to tell me what to do with my life! Just what the hell were you-"

"Don't go."

This random sentence stunned me into silence. Where the fuck did that come from? I thought, thoroughly confused. The restaurant was buzzing with loud conversation, so I didn't hear Gracie approach our table in her pink pumps until she was standing next to Jacob, smiling at him flirtatiously.

"So, are you ready to order?" She asked, the question directed more at him than me.

"I'll have the salmon special," I murmured.

Jacob managed to pull his happy facade together and said, "The same, please," so Gracie wouldn't notice the sudden mood swing. She gave him a bright grin and then literally skipped away.

"What were you talking about before?" I asked.

"You asked me what I was thinking. When I acted like a 'controlling bastard,'" Jacob answered, his tone careful. "All I kept thinking was don't go. Mentally, I prayed that I wasn't going to lose you because I knew that a seperation like the one you were describing would surely kill me. And then I was upset at myself for kidding myself into believing you would conform to the 'Forks Curse' of college where you went to UW and then came back.

"I thought that if I tried to take control that I wouldn't lose you. That you would go to UW and return to me after and then we could have our happily ever after. But I realized about two seconds after you drove off in your car that I was so wrong to do that. You deserve to do or have whatever you want. I'm supposed to give my imprint the world, not lock her away forever." He met my gaze. "I'm very, very sorry, Katie. So sorry."

I wanted to hate him. I wanted to tell him that sorry wasn't good enough. He'd broken me and that couldn't be fixed by a lengthy apology and puppy dog eyes.

But I didn't get what I wanted because I could feel myself forgiving him with each word that escaped his mouth.

I sighed slightly, looking away from him. "I should be telling you off right now," I muttered and I could see his shoulders slump in defeat and added, "but I'm too busy contemplating if we'll get kicked out of here if I kiss your face off right now."

His face broke out into a huge, deliriously ecstatic grin. It gave me butterflies and made me happy with my decision to forgive him. Obviously Jacob didn't care about the restaurant's rules about PDA because he held my face between his hands and kissed me furiously. I was a little stunned, but returned it, equally enthusiastic. I'd missed this, the closeness of his body and mine, his scent, the way he made every nerve of mine become electrified with his warmth.

We pulled apart to the sound of someone clearing their throat. It was Gracie, the short waitress with big boobs, and she looked at me, far from pleased.

That's right, bitch, he's mine! I thought, grinning smugly as she placed our food in front of us.

Dinner passed rather quickly after that and Jacob offered to take me home since Embry and Maria had headed back as soon as they ditched us. The drive was pleasantly quiet and my eyes drooped. I hadn't been getting much sleep, for obvious reasons, and I would mainly pass out around four in the morning from exhaustion.

Jacob, however, thought the drive back was a good time to have a serious talk with me. One where one of us wasn't the guilty party, apologizing for being stupid about something.

"So, what are we going to do?" He asked.

"Huh?" I replied, not really with it enough to understand what he meant.

"College," he clarified. "What do you plan on doing? Are you still going to...?" He looked sick and couldn't even get out the location of where my future college was.

I sighed and willed myself out of my hazy state. "I don't know. I can guarentee that I will spend at least a semester there. Can we talk about it later? When I've spent time there and know what I'm deciding between, school-wise?"

He nodded and accepted the answer. However, he didn't stay quiet after that. "How are Charlie and your mom doing?"

I shrugged. "They seem disgustingly, deliriously happy together, so I'm assuming everything's good."

Jacob raised an eyebrow. "You mean, no big milestone has come up yet?"

I rolled my eyes. "If you're talking about...ahem...that, then I can assure you, sadly, that yes, that milestone has passed." Neither of us were very pleased with that mental image.

"No!" Jacob argued, laughing. "I meant a different milestone, but if you don't know what I'm talking about, it probably hasn't happened."

My eyes narrowed suspiciously. Boyfriend dearest knew something. And this something was obviously a secret. I hated not being in on secrets.

"What do you know?"

His eyes widened. "Nothing!" Jacob exclaimed, his voice going higher than normal and his eyes looking anywhere but at me.

Sliding closer to him, I placed a hand on his leg, tracing circles in his thigh with my fingernails. "You know something, Jacob Ephraim Black, and you'd better tell me now if you know what's good for you..."

Jacob gulped and fought the urge to squirm underneath my gaze. (This interrogation thing was so fun!) "I'll tell you if you promise to keep it a-Katie, I can't be held responsible for my actions if you don't get your hand away from the...erm...family jewels."

I began laughing hysterically, but moved away like he asked. "F-Family jewels? Ohmygod, that's priceless!" I sucked in a few calming breaths and wiped the tears from my eyes. "And just for the record, hotshot, my hand was barely even half way up your thigh. Now, spill!"

Letting out what appeared to be a relieved sigh, Jacob said, "Before I tell you, you have to promise not to tell a soul. Especially Maria or your mom!"

I raised an eyebrow, suspicious. "Why?"

"Maria has a big mouth and your mom is the main person who should never find out this secret ahead of time."

Pause.

"Okay, continue."

"The other day, I was getting home from patrol when I heard Charlie talking to my dad in the house. Sounded pretty serious, so I lingered outside the door, afraid to interrupt. And I heard Charlie asking my dad about when he thought it would be a good time to propose to your mom..."

No. Fucking. Way.

Mom and Charlie? Married? The concept seemed utterly impossible and yet, as I thought about it more, completely right. Why shouldn't they get married? They were obviously crazy about one another. Mom deserved happiness and so did Charlie.

I fought the urge to squeal and smiled widely. "That's wonderful! Did you hear when he plans on proposing?"

Jacob shook his head. "Not an exact date, but it sounded pretty soon."

The rest of the dinner/sort-of-date carried out perfectly. And everything seemed wonderful and perfect. Nothing could bring me down from this high.

That is, until we got back to my house.

**A/N: Cliffie!**

**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE READ AUTHOR'S NOTE!**

**Okay, so I need your help (you, as in the readers of this story). I'm gonna be wrapping this up in about four to five chapters (hopefully) and I've got ideas for a new Twilight story. If you could be so kind, put your fav story idea and anything you think I should add to said idea in a review, I would be extremely grateful.**

**M'kay, so idea number 1:**

**A girl was just released from a mental asylum and moves with her parents to Forks for a fresh new start. She (I'm thinking her name will be Diana) was put into the mental asylum for claiming that she was attacked and kidnapped by vampires. Little does she know that the reality she was forced to accept at the asylum is far from correct...dun, dun, DUN!**

**And then idea number 2:**

**A girl (her name has yet to be decided so that can be suggested as well) has been an anti-Twilighter for years. She's read the books and knows what happens, but despises the story completely. So what happens when she suddenly wakes up in the world of Twilight? Will she reck it for the characters and make her own ending? Or will she decide to help make sure things go according to plan?**

**Finally, idea number 3:**

**This story will take place during Eclipse. One of the newborns in Victoria's army is far more powerful than she seems and she decides to take matters in her own hands. The girl (name yet to be decided) informs the Cullens of Victoria's army and plans to help them take her down. But why is this girl so willing to help strangers? Does it have to do with the wolf-boy she can't get out of her head or something dark from her past?**

**That's it, ladies and gentleman. If you could cast you votes and any story ideas you might have in a review or PM as soon as possible, I would be eternally grateful!**

**Last thing, just one quick shout out to the reviewers cew, OptimisticTheory, and wolfhappiness for your kind words and encouraging reviews. Stuff like that is what inspires me!**

**PS: Sorry that this chapter is so short, I kinda rushed it! Oh well!**


	18. Chapter 17

My grandmother, who me and my brother call Gran, and my mom have never gotten along. Never. Even as a child, my visits with Gran always included a screaming match at some point. At the time, I just kind of ignored their heated looks and pretended that murder wasn't crossing both their minds.

So, you can imagine my surprise when I entered my house with Jacob to find Gran sitting on the couch with a bowl of popcorn in her lap, flipping through the channels.

"Um...Gran?" I asked tentatively, extremely confused. I set my purse and keys on the dining room table and eyed her suspiciously.

"Oh!" She exclaimed. "Hey there, sweetheart!" Gran quickly-well, as quickly as a woman in her 70's can-walked over to give me a hug.

I crossed my arms over my chest, something I tended to do when I had no idea what to say. "So, what are you doing...here?" I asked.

Gran gave me a wide grin. "Well, a little bird told me that you and your mother's social lives just got a hell of a lot more interesting. So I figured I'd come and visit!" She gazed at Jacob lecherously. "And this is your boyfriend, right?"

To clear things up quickly, Gran is the personification of an elderly woman stereotype. She has snow white hair, wide glasses with thick rims, and usually is wearing floral dresses with lace trim and penny loafers on her feet. However, the one thing about her that isn't exactly normal is that, ever since Grandpa died, she's been very...friendly with the male species. Basically any man who is of legal age will be hit on by her. The older ones usually have their ass assaulted when they're least expecting it.

So, her eyeing Jacob appreciatively wasn't all that weird. He is twenty years old and of legal age, after all.

He gave her a tight-lipped, polite smile. "Yes, ma'am. My name is Jacob Black," he murmured holding out his hand for her to shake. "It's nice to meet you."

Gran ignored his hand and went straight in for a hug. Considering how short she was, her face was (happily) situated against his abs. She let the hug go on for a little bit too long, while Jacob gave me a few desperate glances, before she released him and said, "Where I come from, you hug new people you meet!"

I snorted. "Gran, you were born in Brooklyn. You hug a stranger in Brooklyn and you either get shot or get your purse stolen."

She waved a hand at me dismissively. "Details, details."

Sighing, I asked, "Where's Mom?"

Gran grinned mischieviously. "Just scolding Charlie for asking me to visit. Fine man she's got there. Very firm."

My stomach flipped in disgust and I fought to keep down my dinner. "Very firm" usually meant she'd grabbed his butt and liked what she'd felt. The idea of anyone even considering doing that to Charlie made me want to puke. He was like a Dad to me. No girl wants to hear how firm her Dad's butt is from her grandmother!

"Gran!" I said, anguished. "Please tell me you didn't sexually harrass Mom's boyfriend..."

She snorted. "I most certainly did not harrass Charlie!"

I sighed in relief. "Thank God!"

"...I just gave his backside a firm squeeze. For investigational purposes."

As if on cue, Jacob slinked away from Gran's reach, placing me between them. _Smart move_, I thought.

Before I could scold her for the hundredth time on how grabbing men's butts was disgusting and most definitely considered sexual harrassment, Mom came back from the kitchen with Charlie trailing behind her, still looking slightly pissed off.

"You can go put your stuff in the guest bedroom, Mother," she told Gran quietly, who grinned in response and scurried off to her temporary room.

I felt a hand grip my hip and turn me to face them. Jacob gave me a bittersweet smile.

"I'd better be going. I'll be here to pick you up tomorrow," he murmured. We were going to a beach party of sorts with the rest of the pack and imprints. I'd also managed to convince Jacob to let me invite Dean, who had been very introverted for the past couple of months.

I nodded and leaned up to kiss him goodbye. The kiss was chaste and brief, but that fire still burned in my stomach at being so close to him. When we pulled apart, I instinctively gripped him harder and tried to permanently attach myself to his body. Of course, this made him chuckle and his ego sky rocket through the roof.

And then he strolled out of my house, whistling to himself happily.

When I turned back around, Charlie was looking at me with furrowed brows. I ignored him and faced Mom, who was glaring at him.

"Mom?" I asked. She ripped her angry gaze from Charlie's face. "I'm going to be spending tomorrow at the beach with Jacob."

"Are you sure you should be just jumping back into things with Jake?" asked Charlie. I appreciated his concern, but regretted letting Mom tell him about the brief break between me and Jacob.

I sighed. "We're fine Charlie, and besides, it's not like it'll be just the two of us. All Jacob's friends, Maria, and Dean are coming."

Mom snorted. "Dean? How'd you manage to get Mopey to go to a beach hangout?"

I shrugged. "He may or may not know he's coming."

She shrugged. "Whatever. I'm cool with those plans, but now I'm going to bed." Mom turned to Charlie and kissed his cheek quickly. "You are forgiven, for now, but

I'm kicking you out of the house for the night." With that, she went into her room and slammed the door shut. I guess that was Charlie's signal to leave.

He smiled at her antics, but frowned as if he remembered something. I started to go upstairs to find Dean, but Charlie calling out my name stopped me.

"What?" I asked.

He nodded towards the dining room table. "Can we talk for a second?"

"Sure."

We sat across from one another, the silence poignant. Both of us waited for the other to speak first. I analyzed Charlie's behavior carefully. He seemed to be sweating a little bit and was shifting in his seat constantly. I raised an eyebrow at his behavior, but waited for an explanation.

"Alright, so I have a reason for calling your grandmother to have her come and visit."

"I should hope so," I muttered. "Mom would be trying to murder you right now if you didn't."

Charlie laughed at my words before continuing. "As you know, your mother and I have been together for a little while. Not very long, in fact, but at our age, it's not like we've got all the time in the world."

This time, it was me who laughed. "Charlie, it's not like you're Gran's age and falling in love. You're still fairly young."

"I know, I know. Anyway, I love your mother very much and I know this is silly, asking your permission like this, but really, it's you who should decide about this." He took a deep breath before meeting my gaze. "I'd like to marry your mother. I'm planning on proposing soon, but I don't want to propose until I know you approve. I already asked your grandmother, but it wasn't her consent I was really worried about."

I was a little stunned by his words, but couldn't stop that stupid smile from spreading across my face. "Charlie, of course I approve! Mom hasn't been this happy with a guy in...well, ever."

He let out a relieved chuckle. "I'm glad you approve. Dean said generally the same thing."

"I only have one thing to say about your proposal," I told him.

"What?"

"Do it soon. She's getting antsy, old man, and she won't wait for that ring forever."

With that said, I got up and went upstairs to inform my brother of what his plans would be tomorrow.

***V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V***

**A/N: So, I know this chapter is very short, but I'll make sure the next one is good and long. But as for a few hints as to what may or may not happen in the next chapter: Jacob and Katie discuss marriage, a proposal is made, and somebody imprints! I'd love to hear who you think is going to imprint and on who.**

**On a side note, thank you for all those reviews about what I should do next! I really appreciated the feedback. But the problem was the votes were about split in half between story choice 1 and 3. (Which were my top two choices anyway.) So, I'd really appreciated if you would put in a quick review out of those two which one you prefer.**

**And for those of you who didn't read the AN from the last chapter or you don't remember what the choices were:**

**#1: A girl who was sent to a mental institution because she claimed to have seen vampires. So, what happens when she moves to Forks after being released?**

**#3: Takes place during Eclipse. A newborn from Victoria's army runs away and goes to assist the Cullens.**

**Well, that's it! Thanks!**

**- HBTC**


	19. AN: Contest details! Please read!

*****IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE! PLEASE READ!*****

**Now that I've gotten your attention, I have a few announcements. First one, the reason I haven't updated in so long is because I spent the majority of the month of July in Italy. That was wonderful, by the way. Second announcement, I have a little contest/request for you.**

**Basically, I've decided to go with story option #1-see previous chapters to find out which one that is-and I need a name for it. Since I am extremely terrible at naming stories (Breakable got its name from a song I was listening to while trying to name my story) I thought I would ask you to come up with a title for me.**

**The person with the best title will get a character named after them in the new story. Also, the winner can leave a review or PM me about any specific details they'd like me to add to the character named after them (i.e. how they know main character, what they look like, personality, etc.)**

**Thanks for your wonderful support! Please leave any title suggestions in a review or PM.**

**- HBTC**


	20. AN: Bad news

*****IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE! PLEASE READ!*****

**I hate to say it, but I'm going to have to put Breakable on HIATUS. School's been crazy and I just barely have my head enough above water to write this AN. Basically, I realized it was just cruel to make you all wait patiently thinking that an update would come any day now. This HIATUS may only last for like a month or it may be until the summer when I have nothing going on; I honestly can't tell you which.**

**Until then, if you have any ideas for the story when this HIATUS is over-and I promise it will be eventually-then please leave a review here or PM me. I will also allow any hateful words you have about the HIATUS, I understand it's frustrating.**

**Thank you so much for being so supportive of Breakable until this point and I hope that I can continue and finish up the story soon!**

**- HBTC**


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